Inventory Rises and Copper Prices Rebound Downstream Purchasing Remains Lethargic [SMM South China Spot Copper]

Published: Mar 2, 2026 11:30

Save

SMM March 2 Update:

Today, in Guangdong, #1 copper cathode spot prices against the front-month contract: high-quality copper was quoted at a discount of 50 yuan/mt, down 20 yuan/mt; standard-quality copper was quoted at a discount of 280 yuan/mt, down 50 yuan/mt; SX-EW copper was quoted at a discount of 340 yuan/mt, down 50 yuan/mt. The average price of #1 copper cathode in Guangdong was 102,290 yuan/mt, up 335 yuan/mt from the previous trading day, while the average price of SX-EW copper was 102,115 yuan/mt, down 50 yuan/mt from the previous trading day.

Spot market: Inventory in Guangdong has increased for six consecutive days, mainly due to slow recovery in downstream consumption. With rising inventory and rebounding copper prices, downstream buyers were not active, and suppliers had to lower premiums to ship goods, resulting in moderate overall trading. Today, the purchasing sentiment for electrolytic copper in the Guangdong region was 2.4, down 0.1 from the previous trading day, and the shipping sentiment was 3.1, up 0.1 from the previous trading day. (Historical data can be accessed by logging into the database.)

Overall, with rising inventory and rebounding copper prices, downstream buyers were not active, and overall trading was 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.

For any inquiries or for 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

15 hours ago

US Durable Goods Orders Fall 4.5% in May, Core Orders Show Strength

US durable goods orders in May once again revealed a divergence of weak headline figures but a strong core. On June 25, the US Commerce Department reported that US durable goods orders fell 4.5% MoM in May, in line with market expectations and marking the steepest drop in nearly a year—a sharp pullback from the revised 8.5% increase in April. However, excluding transportation equipment, which is subject to large fluctuations, orders rose 1.3% MoM, above the expected 0.5% and the prior 1.1%, indicating that underlying demand in manufacturing remains resilient.

15 hours ago

Norilsk Nickel Forecasts Copper Concentrate Deficit, Zero Benchmark TCs for 2026

Russian base metal producer Norilsk Nickel expects the global copper concentrate market to remain in undersupply in 2026, with a deficit of 751,000 mt, which will continue to put pressure on processing enterprises' profits.The company stated in its copper market outlook report released on June 23 that benchmark treatment charges (TCs) for copper concentrates under the 2026 annual contract framework have been set at $0/mt, down from $21/mt in 2025, as smelting capacity continues to compete for scarce concentrate supply.

15 hours ago

NexMetals' Selkirk Project Resources Surge 70%, Boosting Botswana Growth Strategy

NexMetals Mining said that resources at its Selkirk copper-nickel-platinum group metals project have increased by nearly 70%, and it could now become a “significant contributor” to its Botswana-focused growth strategy.In a resource update released on Wednesday, the Toronto-based miner said that breakthroughs from re-assaying and twin drilling have converted a large amount of inferred resources, giving the project indicated resources of approximately 1.1 billion pounds of copper equivalent (CuEq) contained in 78.2 million mt of ore at an average grade of 0.66% CuEq.

15 hours ago