Inventory Fell Sharply, Suppliers Actively Held Prices Firm, and Spot Premiums Continued to Rise [SMM South China Spot Copper]

Published: Mar 27, 2026 11:30

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SMM News, March 27:

Today, in Guangdong, spot premiums for #1 copper cathode against the front-month contract were quoted at 150 yuan/mt for high-quality copper, up 30 yuan/mt from the previous trading day; 50 yuan/mt for standard-quality copper, up 30 yuan/mt from yesterday; and a discount of 20 yuan/mt for SX-EW copper, up 20 yuan/mt from yesterday. The average price of #1 copper cathode in Guangdong was 95,495 yuan/mt, down 130 yuan/mt from the previous trading day, while the average price of SX-EW copper was 95,375 yuan/mt, down 140 yuan/mt from the previous trading day.

Spot market: Guangdong inventory declined for nine consecutive days and has now fallen by more than 40,000 mt from the high seen earlier this year. As inventory kept falling, suppliers showed stronger willingness to hold prices firm. In early trading, standard-quality copper was quoted at a premium of 60 yuan/mt, but some downstream enterprises were unwilling to purchase at high prices, prompting some suppliers to slightly lower premiums for shipments. Today, copper cathode purchasing sentiment in Guangdong stood at 2.62, up 0.09 from the previous trading day, while shipment sentiment was 3.59, up 0.1 from the previous trading day (historical data is available in the database).

Overall, inventory fell sharply, suppliers actively held prices firm, and spot premiums kept rising, with overall trading remaining moderate.

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM‘s internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

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