Copper Cathode Rod Operating Rate Surges Amid Rigid Demand
The operating rate of China's major copper cathode rod enterprises rebounded to 62.44% in the week ending August 27, up 1.24 percentage points from last month and exceeding expectations by 2.49 percentage points. The recovery was driven mainly by rigid demand orders that had been suppressed for a long time, with production relying heavily on existing orders.
New orders slowed down significantly during this period, but actual downstream demand remained steady. End-users such as cables and enamelled wire were affected by high copper prices, resulting in weak overall demand. Inventory levels rose 2.68 percentage points from last month due to enterprises actively replenishing raw materials, while finished product inventories increased by a modest 0.16 percentage points.
Looking ahead, SMM predicts that the operating rate will increase by 0.95 percentage points next week to reach 63.39%, as in-sample enterprises resume normal production following maintenance-related production cuts this week.