Khark Island Attack Foiled: Defense Restored, Oil Operations Unaffected, No Casualties Reported

SMM Morning Meeting Summary: Last Friday night, LME copper opened at $12,871/mt. It hit a high of $12,942/mt amid wide swings early in the session, after which the center of copper prices gradually moved lower and fell to $12,733/mt near the close, finally settling at $12,735.5/mt, down 1.64%. Trading volume reached 22,600 lots, and open interest stood at 307,000 lots, an increase of 3,144 lots from the previous trading day, mainly due to bears adding positions. Last Friday night, the most-traded SHFE copper 2604 contract opened at 100,520 yuan/mt and climbed to 100,760 yuan/mt early in the session. Afterwards, the center of copper prices fluctuated downward and touched a low of 99,710 yuan/mt near the close, with a decline of 0.86%. Trading volume reached 38,900 lots, and open interest stood at 190,000 lots, a decrease of 930 lots from the previous trading day, mainly due to bulls reducing positions.

At the construction site of Liangshan Copper Industry's 125,000-tonne-per-year copper cathode refining project, 96% of the main works have been completed, and key equipment has been commissioned. It is expected that copper cathode will be produced by the end of March. The project has a total investment of approximately 1 billion yuan. Upon operation, it is planned to produce 125,000 tonnes of high-purity copper cathode annually, with an annual output value reaching 8.8 billion yuan.

Since March 4, 2026, secondary copper rod has shifted to a premium of 200-400 yuan/mt against the most-traded futures contract. Meanwhile, the price difference between copper cathode rod and secondary copper rod narrowed sharply from around 1,200 yuan/mt to about 300 yuan/mt