With contract rollover imminent, end-users hold off purchases; suppliers hold prices firm and spot trades remain sluggish [SMM North China Copper Spot]

Published: Jul 13, 2026 11:44
Spot #1 copper cathode in North China was quoted against the front-month contract today at discounts of 50 yuan/mt to premiums of 30 yuan/mt, averaging a discount of 10 yuan/mt, up 10 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The average transaction price was 103,240 yuan/mt, down 755 yuan/mt from the previous trading day.

SMM July 13 News:

Today, spot #1 copper cathode in North China against the front-month contract was reported at an average discount of 50 yuan/mt to a premium of 30 yuan/mt, with the average discount at 10 yuan/mt, up 10 yuan/mt from the previous trading day, and the average transaction price was 103,240 yuan/mt, down 755 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The market was approaching contract rollover, the spot-futures price spread was at a high level, downstream hedging and wait-and-see sentiment was strong, and most purchasing plans were postponed until after the rollover; suppliers' willingness to sell weakened slightly, combined with generally high spot premiums across regions, suppliers continued to hold prices firm, and the overall spot market trading atmosphere was sluggish. The purchasing sentiment for copper cathode in North China today was 2.04, down 0.22 from the previous trading day, and the selling sentiment was 2.37, down 0.04 from the previous trading day ().

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