Operating rates at copper rod producers using copper cathode as raw material plunged 26.61 percentage points on the month and 19.18 percentage points on the year to 42.05% in February, according to an SMM survey of 52 producers with a total capacity of 13.06 million mt/year. The rates were down 5.66 percentage points from January 2023. The average operating rates of large, medium-sized and small enterprises were 41.17%, 31.21%, and 48.30% respectively.

The operating rates at key copper rod producers using copper cathode were 74.03% last week (October 27-November 2), a decline of 13.13 percentage points from a week earlier. New orders cooled down further due to higher copper prices.

The average operating rate of key copper rod producers using copper cathode was around 68.89% last week (September 15-21), a drop of 2.89 percentage points from a week earlier.

The operating rates of key copper rod producers using copper cathode averaged 71.78% last week (September 8-14), an increase of 1.53 percentage points from a week earlier. The inventories of some copper rod factories were still at a relatively high level, limiting the rise in operating rates.

The operating rates of key copper rod producers using copper cathode averaged 70.25% this week (September 1-7), an increase of 1.28 percentage points from a week ago.

The operating rates of key copper rod producers using copper cathode averaged 68.97% last week (August 25-31), an increase of 0.26 percentage point from a week earlier. Last week's recovery in operating rates was mainly due to the production resumption from maintenance at a copper rod company in central China.