After the delivery contract rollover this week, spot premiums for Shandong copper cathode shifted from a discount to a premium. As of Thursday, the average spot premium reached 140 yuan/mt. Copper prices fluctuated sharply during the week, shooting up to 110,000 yuan/mt before pulling back to around 107,000 yuan/mt. Market trading sentiment clearly fluctuated with the futures, and downstream transactions recovered somewhat from earlier sluggishness. On the supply side, suppliers' overall willingness to sell was relatively strong. On the demand side, it remained the traditional consumption off-season, with downstream enterprises mainly purchasing as needed. After copper prices pulled back, point-price transactions in the market increased, but most were only to cover raw material gaps for existing orders. Although copper prices had pulled back from earlier highs, the absolute price level remained relatively high, and the market did not see sustained volume expansion. Overall, the off-season pattern persisted, with procurement mainly driven by actual rigid demand. Looking ahead to next week, copper prices are likely to stay high, and demand is unlikely to see significant improvement. Spot premiums are expected to have room for a pullback.
