Spot Premiums Weakened on the Last Trading Day of March [SMM North China Spot Copper]

Published: Mar 31, 2026 11:13

Save

Today, spot #1 copper cathode in North China was quoted at discounts of 120–60 yuan/mt against the front-month contract, with the average price down 20 yuan/mt from the previous trading day, and the average transaction price up 385 yuan/mt from the previous trading day to 95,565 yuan/mt.

SMM News, March 31:

Today, spot #1 copper cathode in North China was quoted at discounts of 120 yuan/mt to 60 yuan/mt against the front-month contract, with the average price down 20 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The average transaction price was 95,565 yuan/mt, up 385 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. On the last trading day of March, downstream players faced capital pressure while upstream players had shipment needs, and spot premiums came under pressure. Today, the procurement sentiment for copper cathode in North China was 2.11, down 0.02 from the previous trading day, while shipment sentiment was 2.32, up 0.13 from the previous trading day ().

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.

For any inquiries or to learn more information, please contact: lemonzhao@smm.cn

For more information on how to access our research reports, please contact:service.en@smm.cn

Related News

1 min ago

Zijin Mining 2025 Report: Zinc Output Down, Smelting Up, Bisha and Wulagen Mines Plan Increased Production

Zijin Mining released its 2025 annual report. The report showed that in 2025, the company’s mines produced 357,453 mt of zinc in zinc concentrates, down 12.19% YoY (same period last year: 407,077 mt); smelting output of zinc ingot was 397,679 mt, up 7.17% YoY (same period last year: 371,057 mt). Lead content in lead concentrates output was 41,065 mt, down 7.51% YoY (same period last year: 44,397 mt). Among them, the Bisha zinc mine produced 83,000 mt of ore-derived zinc and 23,000 mt of copper in 2025, and plans to produce 91,000 mt of ore-derived zinc and 30,000 mt of copper in 2026; Zijin Zinc’s Wulagen zinc (lead) mine produced 136,000 mt of ore-derived zinc and 20,000 mt of ore-derived lead in 2025, and plans to produce 134,000 mt of ore-derived zinc and 18,000 mt of ore-derived lead i

1 min ago

1 hour ago

Active Offerings of Forward-Month Delivery B/Ls, Trading Volume Pulled Back Significantly from the Previous Day [SMM Yangshan Spot Copper]

1 hour ago

Month-End Trading Was Sluggish, and SHFE Copper Spot Discounts Remained in the Doldrums [SMM Shanghai Spot Copper]

[SMM Shanghai Spot Copper] Looking ahead to tomorrow, the Shanghai spot copper market is expected to see a phased recovery. Demand side, as a new monthly procurement cycle begins, the previously pent-up purchasing demand of downstream enterprises will be gradually released. Coupled with the stockpiling window ahead of the Qingming Festival, market inquiry activity is expected to rebound, and trading conditions may improve significantly from month-end levels, providing some support for spot discounts. From the market structure perspective, the price spread between high-quality copper and standard-quality copper has remained at a relatively narrow level, reflecting that actual consumption demand still dominates the market, while brand premiums have weakened. Supply side, imported cargoes have continued to arrive recently, and the destocking speed of social inventory in Shanghai has slowed, leaving overall circulating supply relatively ample and limiting the room for discount recovery. Overall, driven by early-month procurement and pre-holiday stockpiling, spot prices against the SHFE copper 2604 contract are expected to see some narrowing in discounts tomorrow.

1 hour ago