On September 4, the SMM Imported Copper Concentrate Index (weekly) stood at -$200.31/dmt, down $0.47/dmt from -$199.84/dmt in the previous period. The payable indicator for 20% grade domestic trade ore was reported at 98.5%-99.5%.
Spot market transactions this week declined WoW, with some mines conducting tenders. In terms of spot deals, the previously rumored 10,000 mt of Collahuasi sold by a trader to a smelter at a fixed price of -$220/dmt was actually concluded at the SMM weekly index minus $20/dmt, with an October loading period, gold payable at 100% after -0.2g, and QP: M+1/M+5. In addition, a trader sold 10,000 mt of Gilbratar to a smelter at the index minus $25/dmt, with an October loading period and QP: M+1/M+5. Another trader sold 20,000 mt of clean ore to a smelter at the index minus $24/dmt to $25/dmt, with an October-November loading period and QP: M+1/M+5. Yet another trader sold 10,000 mt of BVC to a smelter at the index minus $26/dmt to $28/dmt. On the mine tender side, 100,000 mt of 2027 Telfer was tendered, with the result still unknown. Additionally, 10,000 mt of high-cadmium BVC for October was tendered, with the result also still unknown. Current index-linked deductions were largely concluded around the index minus $25/dmt, a slight upward correction from the earlier index minus $25/dmt, mainly because smelters' willingness to accept deep index deductions has diminished, making deals at lower deductions difficult to conclude. As TCs continued to slide, copper smelters' production costs kept climbing, and smelters' resistance to the current deeply negative RC/TCs continued to intensify. Low-price deals struggled to see volume growth, and the decline in the Imported Copper Concentrate Index slowed noticeably from earlier.
On August 29, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru signed a joint declaration on critical minerals cooperation, planning to strengthen collaboration in geological research, mining regulation, and project development. Chile and Peru are major copper-producing countries, while Argentina hosts several large undeveloped copper projects. Regional collaboration could help improve the investment environment for Andean copper mines, but with no specific projects or timetable yet, the short-term impact on copper supply remains limited.
On August 29, Codelco announced its H1 2026 results. Attributable copper production was 564,000 mt, down 11% YoY, while equity production was 619,000 mt, down 10% YoY. In Q2, attributable copper production was approximately 292,000 mt, down 13.6% YoY. The production cuts were mainly affected by operational restrictions at El Teniente, major maintenance at Chuquicamata, and lower ore grades at Ministro Hales, with production at the three mines down 27%, 22%, and 21% YoY, respectively. Whether H2 production can rebound will mainly depend on the progress of production resumptions at El Teniente and operational improvements at Chuquicamata.
On September 1, data from Peru's Ministry of Energy and Mines showed that copper production in H1 2026 increased 1.9% YoY, with the growth rate still at a low level. Combined with Chile's July copper production down 9.4% YoY, Peru, as the world's third-largest copper producer, maintained low copper production growth, contrasting with the recent YoY decline in Chile's July copper production and reflecting the overall pattern of limited supply flexibility in South America's main producing regions.
On September 2, the Tetelo copper mine in Angola commenced its Phase II expansion, which will raise daily ore processing capacity from 4,000 mt to 7,000 mt, with annual processing volume exceeding 2 million mt and a copper production target of more than 60,000 mt. After the subsequent commissioning of the Muegi mining area, annual mining and processing capacity is planned to exceed 3 million mt, but actual copper growth will still depend on Phase II construction and capacity ramp-up.
On September 4, 2026, SMM recorded copper concentrate inventories at 11 ports of 764,000 mt in physical content, down 61,000 mt in physical content from August 28. The main declines came from Qingdao Port and Fangchenggang Port, down 35,000 mt and 40,000 mt MoM, respectively; the increases mainly came from Nanjing Port and Yantai Port, up 10,000 mt and 10,100 mt MoM, respectively.
![Weekend stockpiling and narrowing backwardation drive a slight rebound in Shanghai spot copper premiums [SMM SHFE Copper Spot]](https://imgqn.smm.cn/usercenter/aMTzL20251217171710.jpg)
