According to SMM data, the operating rates of brass billet producers continued to decline this week, dropping by 0.32 percentage points MoM to 49.32%. This was mainly influenced by two factors: firstly, the ongoing weak demand for continuous casting billets, and secondly, the high copper prices which suppressed downstream orders. In terms of inventory, the days of raw material inventories in SMM's sample decreased by 0.16 days MoM to 3.88 days, while the days of finished product inventories increased by 0.21 days MoM to 6.6 days.
Looking ahead to next week, the pattern of weak demand is expected to persist. Although the order performance of extruded billets is slightly better than that of continuous casting billets, most enterprises still focus on producing continuous casting billets. Therefore, against the backdrop of weak orders, finished product inventories are expected to continue to rebound. SMM forecasts that the weekly operating rates of brass billet producers will decline by 0.26 percentage points next week to 49.06%.
