Copper Plate/Sheet Industry Navigates High Prices and Off-Season Demand

The copper plate/sheet and strip industry experienced a decline in operating rates in August 2026 due to high copper prices and the traditional off-season consumption period. According to SMM, the comprehensive operating rate of the industry was 73.39%, down 1.15 percentage points from July but up 7.51 percentage points year-over-year.

The industry saw a drop in operating rates across all enterprise sizes: large enterprises stood at 83.22%, medium-sized enterprises at 55.46%, and small enterprises at 64.95%. The copper plate/sheet and strip industry faced challenges from high copper prices, which suppressed downstream procurement and new orders.

However, the industry received support from rigid demand in end-use sectors such as computing power, energy storage, new energy facilities, transformers, and integrated circuits. Copper strip and alloy plate/sheet and strip benefited from this demand, with copper strip showing a stronger-than-usual off-season performance. Downstream demand for alloy plate/sheet and strip was also impressive.

In contrast, brass strip and bronze strip experienced weak end-use demand in the off-season, coupled with tight supply of tax-invoiced copper scrap raw materials, leading some enterprises to opt for production cuts. Overall inventory levels remained normal, with finished product inventory days standing at 5.49 days in August.

SMM predicts that the comprehensive operating rate of the industry will increase to 73.54% in September, up 0.15 percentage points from August and up 7.52 percentage points year-over-year. The market expects demand to strengthen as the traditional off-season comes to a close, with copper strip supported by previously accumulated orders.