The most-traded BC copper 2605 contract opened at 84,100 yuan/mt today. After the opening, its center maintained a fluctuating trend. After dipping to 83,880 yuan/mt in daytime trading, the center kept rebounding, and neared the session close it touched a high of 85,020 yuan/mt. It finally closed at 84,790 yuan/mt, up 0.09%. Open interest reached 6,122 lots, an increase of 419 lots from the previous trading day, while trading volume reached 4,404 lots, an increase of 1,577 lots from the previous trading day. On the macro front, tensions in the Middle East remained elevated. Iran released satellite images warning of strikes on US military early warning aircraft and attacked an aluminum plant linked to the US. Pakistan planned to promote Iran-US peace talks. The US had more than 50,000 troops stationed in the Middle East, and the Houthis continued striking Israeli targets. Although geopolitical conflicts occurred frequently, the overall macro situation saw no significant change. Coupled with some easing in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran having allowed vessels from multiple countries to pass, copper prices overall fluctuated rangebound. Fundamentally, imported cargoes continued arriving, while arrivals of domestic cargoes remained stable, leaving overall supply ample. Demand side, with copper prices fluctuating at highs, downstream buyers mainly made just-in-time procurement. Inventory side, as of Monday, March 30, SMM copper inventories in major regions across China fell 13.81% WoW from the previous Monday, with all regions continuing destocking.
The SHFE copper 2605 contract on SHFE closed at 95,760 yuan/mt. Based on the BC copper 2605 contract price of 84,790 yuan/mt, its after-tax price was 95,813 yuan/mt. The price spread between the SHFE copper 2604 contract and BC copper was -53 yuan/mt, indicating an inverted spread.
![China’s Copper Inventories in Major Regions Declined for Three Consecutive Weeks [SMM Weekly Data]](https://imgqn.smm.cn/usercenter/JYzFE20251217171714.jpeg)
