In February, the start of copper pipe companies fell sharply

According to SMM research data, the operating rate of copper pipe enterprises in February 2020 was 39.06%, down 17.55 percentage points from the previous month 

and 19.22 percentage points from the same period last year. In February, affected by the domestic influenza epidemic, the construction of copper pipe enterprises was

postponed, most of which were concentrated after February 17, and only a few factories of large copper pipe enterprises maintained normal production during the

 Spring Festival.

Even the production line of the enterprise that has started may not be able to open all, and the actual start of the enterprise in February was about 60%, and the isolation

 and review of the rework personnel and the logistics obstruction all dragged down the overall start of the construction in February. In addition, air conditioning 

enterprises basically resumed work after February 10, and after the resumption of work, it was mainly in dealing with pre-holiday inventory, and the delay of orders in

 February also inhibited the enthusiasm of copper pipe enterprises to start work.

In February, the ratio of raw material inventory of copper pipe enterprises was 27.51%

In February, the raw material inventory ratio of copper pipe enterprises was 27.51%, an increase of 7.12 percentage points from the previous month. The increase in the

 ratio of raw material inventory in February was mainly due to the fact that the actual raw material storage speed of enterprises in February could not keep up with the 

decline in production. In February, affected by the epidemic, the production of enterprises was hindered, resulting in a sharp decline in production, and the actual raw 

material inventory was also reduced, mainly because the logistics did not fully recover in February, and copper pipe enterprises had certain difficulties in purchasing raw 

materials, so most of them were pre-consumption inventories.

The operating rate of copper pipe enterprises is expected to be 76.89% in March

According to SMM research, the operating rate of copper pipe enterprises is expected to be 76.89% in March, up 37.83 percentage points from the previous month, down 

8.35 percentage points year-on-year. In March, most copper pipe enterprises basically returned to normal operation, and some enterprises can still reach full production. 

As the terminal enterprises also basically resumed work in March, and there were supplementary orders in February, the improvement of the overall order situation in 

March stimulated the production enthusiasm of enterprises to pick up significantly.

In addition, some enterprises also reflect that because the current copper price is at a historical low, the buying sentiment of the terminal industry is high, and it is also 

driving the recovery of the overall construction of the industry. However, it is worth noting that at present, we are in the outbreak stage of the overseas epidemic, and

 the export orders of the subsequent home appliance industry will still be limited with the impact of the epidemic, and the actual enterprise construction in the following 

March should not be too optimistic.

The impact of the outbreak on copper imports is expected to become clear in March

SMM believes that the impact of the epidemic on China's unwrought copper and copper will be concentrated in March, and it is expected that unwrought copper and 

copper will decline significantly in March compared with the same month last year. Main reasons:

On the one hand, China has implemented a number of control measures in response to the epidemic, forcing some shipments to be delayed, and some cargo that should

 have arrived in March to be held in port.

On the other hand, during February, the epidemic seriously affected the domestic copper digestion, the spot price weakened, and the import ratio was difficult to improve,

 leading to the emergence of the copper sea diplomatic warehouse. For example, on February 26, LME copper stocks surged by 61,175 tons, an increase of 38.71%, the 

highest since 2004.