[SMM Brass Billet Flash] According to SMM, supply side, secondary brass supply remains tight and quotations stay high, coupled with copper prices fluctuating at highs, procurement costs of raw materials for brass billet enterprises have risen, raw material stockpiling has become more difficult, and raw material inventories remain at low levels.

[SMM Brass Billet Flash] The fundamentals of tight raw material supply, high costs and weak end-use demand remain unchanged. SMM expects the brass billet industry's operating rate will continue to drop 0.25 percentage points MoM to 51.60%, with the industry's operating rate remaining under pressure in the near term.

[SMM Brass Billet Flash] According to SMM, amid weak supply and demand, China's brass billet industry continued its weak off-season trend this week (5.29-6.04), with the weekly operating rate among sampled enterprises at 51.85%, representing a pullback of 0.16 percentage point WoW and a decline of 0.04 percentage point YoY.

This week (5.29-6.04), China's brass billet industry continued the weak trend of the off-season, with the weekly operating rate of sample enterprises at 51.85%, down 0.16 percentage points WoW and 0.04 percentage points YoY. Supply side, secondary brass supply remained tight with quotes staying high. Combined with copper prices fluctuating at highs, enterprises' raw material procurement costs rose and stockpiling became more difficult, keeping raw material inventories at low levels. Demand side, the drag from the traditional off-season persisted. End-use demand in home appliances, sanitary ware, and hardware was sluggish. Downstream purchases were mostly sporadic restocking on demand. New orders increased only limitedly. Finished product inventory days remained at a relatively high 5.24 days, and market transactions were mediocre. Looking ahead to next week (6.05-6.11), the fundamentals of tight raw materials, high costs, and weak end-use demand have not changed. SMM expects the industry operating rate to continue to decline by 0.25 percentage points WoW to 51.60%, down 0.41 percentage points YoY, with the industry's operating rate continuing to face downward pressure in the short term.

[SMM Brass Billet News Flash] According to SMM, downstream end-use demand follow-through has been insufficient recently. New orders received by brass billet enterprises pulled back notably, with factory production generally relying on earlier backlog orders for support, and pressure on the spot sales side became increasingly evident.

[SMM Brass Billet News Flash] According to SMM, the current weak off-season pattern is unlikely to change, with no improvement in tight raw material supply, high costs, or sluggish demand for the time being. SMM expects the operating rate of the brass billet industry to continue declining by 0.19 percentage points MoM to 51.82%, with operating rates unlikely to recover in the short term.