Copper Prices Shot Up on a Short Squeeze, Breaking Above 109,000; Price Difference Between Copper Cathode and Copper Scrap Once Exceeded 5,000 yuan/mt [SMM Copper Scrap Weekly Review]
[SMM Analysis: Copper Prices Shot Up on a Short Squeeze, Breaking Above 109,000; the Price Difference Between Copper Cathode and Copper Scrap Once Exceeded 5,000 yuan/mt] This week, the price difference between copper cathode and copper scrap saw wild swings within the range of 3,846–5,061 yuan/mt, and shot up to a year-to-date high of 5,061 yuan/mt on August 26. Recent visits by SMM to major yards in Zhenhai, Ningbo showed that inventories of high-grade bare bright copper were extremely tight. At some yards, inventories were less than one quarter of their levels in previous years. Yard A mainly stocked blister copper ingots and No. 2 copper semis, with very limited volumes of bare bright copper wire. Amid wild swings in copper prices, suppliers’ pace of shipments showed a typical pattern of “selling into rallies and holding back from selling on dips” ......