According to SMM statistics, copper semis output in March stood at 1.84 million mt. The cumulative output from January to March was 4.49 million mt, an increase of 2.48% year-on-year due to a low base in the same period last year. Operating rates at copper semis producers stood at 73.03% in March, an increase of 20.73 percentage points from the previous month, compared to an expected rise of 3.65 percentage points, and an increase of 8.82 percentage points year on year.

The seasonal factor drove the big month-on-month increase in operating rates, while the year-on-year increase was attributable to the slow resumption of production at downstream companies against the COVID-19 pandemic post-CNY last year.

Operating rates: copper tube industry (87.81%)> the copper plate, strip and foil industry (79.56%)> copper rod industry using copper cathode as raw materials (68.22%)

Brisk domestic sales and exports led to strong orders in home appliance industry, ensuring high operating rates across copper tube plants. Some enterprises operated at full capacity and have scheduled production to end-May. Operating rates in the copper plate, strip and foil industry in March also increased year-on-year, mainly due to the continuous increase in production and sales of new energy vehicles and semiconductor electronics.

The performance of copper rod industry using copper cathode was the weakest. Operating rates in the wire and cable industry increased slowly in March, and the delivery-taking speed was much lower than normal; meanwhile, a big price difference between copper cathode and copper scrap drove wire and cable producers to purchase copper rod produced with secondary copper. The good performance of the enamelled wire industry since the start of the year failed to bolster operating rates at the copper rod industry using copper cathode as raw material due to its small market share.

Operating rates in April: copper tube industry (89.23%)> copper plate and strip industry (80.55%)> copper rod industry using copper cathode (73.43%).

Operating rates at copper semis producers are expected to stand at 76.94%, an increase of 3.91 percentage points from the previous month and a decrease of 3.7 percentage points from the same period last year. The operating rate of the copper tube and copper plate and strip industry will remain at a high level.

Operating rate of the copper rod industry using copper cathode will also rise, but the substitution of copper cathode by copper scrap will limit the increase.