Copper Prices Consolidate at Highs; Copper Scrap Suppliers Sell into Strength [SMM Secondary Copper Daily Review]

Panoro Minerals has reported new assay results from its Cotabambas copper-gold-silver project in southern Peru, with drill hole CB-230 intersecting 808.15 metres grading 0.22% copper, 0.10 g/t gold and 1.53 g/t silver, equivalent to 0.31% CuEq using Panoro’s stated metal-price and metallurgical-recovery assumptions. The interval was encountered from 296.35 metres to 1,104.50 metres downhole. Within the broader mineralised interval, CB-230 returned 240.15 metres grading 0.32% copper, including 156.50 metres at 0.38% copper and a higher-grade 48.10-metre interval at 0.57% copper, 0.25 g/t gold and 4.08 g/t silver. Drill hole CB-229 separately intersected 303.30 metres at 0.14% copper, including 69.90 metres at 0.27% copper. Panoro said the latest drilling, together with previously reported hole CB-228, indicates continuity of the higher-grade mineralisation across approximately 600 metres of strike and from surface to more than 1,100 metres depth. Mineralisation remains open, and additional holes CB-231, CB-232 and CB-233 have commenced to test further extensions around and below the South Pit. The latest results strengthen Panoro’s geological case for expanding the higher-grade component of the Cotabambas resource, particularly as drilling has yet to define the limits of mineralisation around the South Pit. Cotabambas currently hosts 507.3 Mt of indicated resources and 496.0 Mt of inferred resources, with a higher-grade component of 129.0 Mt indicated and 93.1 Mt inferred. However, the project remains in the exploration and development stage, meaning the new intersections have no immediate impact on copper supply and will need to be incorporated into future resource modelling and technical studies before their economic significance can be assessed.

U.S. merchandise imports from the Democratic Republic of Congo reached approximately US$2.123 billion in January–July 2026, up nearly 66% from about US$1.281 billion in the same period of 2025, according to U.S. trade data reported on September 4. The seven-month total has already surpassed the US$1.928 billion imported from the DRC during the whole of 2025 and is more than six times the US$323.2 million recorded in 2024. Official U.S. Census Bureau data show imports had already reached US$1.411 billion by the end of June. Copper has been a major driver of the increase. During H1 2026, approximately US$1.04 billion of the US$1.411 billion in U.S. imports from the DRC was classified as copper and articles thereof, accounting for nearly three-quarters of the total. Imports from the DRC then accelerated to US$712.7 million in July alone, compared with US$264.4 million in July 2025. Separately, U.S. imports of refined copper and copper alloys reached a record 225,094 mt in July, up 78% month on month, with Chile and the DRC identified among the two largest supplying countries. The shift also coincides with a more active marketing strategy by DRC state miner Gécamines. In January, Gécamines exercised its right to purchase 100,000 tonnes of Tenke Fungurume’s 2026 copper production, with the volume designated for the U.S. market and Mercuria providing financial, logistical and technical support. Gécamines said the transaction was intended to diversify buyers and strengthen its role in marketing copper from its mining partnerships. The rapid increase in U.S.-bound DRC trade indicates a meaningful diversification of Congolese copper flows toward the American market. If sustained, this could increase competition for DRC cathode and influence regional export routes and physical premiums. However, the US$2.123 billion headline represents total DRC merchandise exports to the U.S., not copper alone, while unusually high U.S. copper imports have also been influenced by tariff-related inventory positioning. The latest figures therefore point more clearly to a changing trade-flow pattern than to an equivalent increase in underlying U.S. copper consumption.

In July 2026, Indonesia's total monthly sulphur imports reached 725,900 mt, up 115.5% MoM and up 132% YoY. The main import sources were the UAE (256,800 mt), Canada (180,300 mt), Saudi Arabia (110,900 mt), Qatar (56,700 mt), Kuwait (36,750 mt), the US (22,200 mt), Iraq (18,000 mt), Kazakhstan (13,000 mt), Malaysia (10,200 mt), the Philippines, Taiwan, China, Japan, and South Korea. Indonesia's total monthly sulphur exports stood at 278.74448 mt, up significantly MoM and up significantly YoY.