Spot supply extremely tight; premiums exceed 1,000 yuan/mt [SMM Shandong copper cathode spot weekly review]

This week, spot premiums for copper cathode in Shandong continued to rise, hitting a near four-year high; as of Thursday, spot premiums were reported at a premium of 1,010 yuan/mt. After copper prices pulled back last week, downstream rigid demand was released in a concentrated manner, coupled with insufficient supply of imported copper, social inventory continued to destock to a low level of around 70,000 mt, spot supply in the market was extremely tight, suppliers oversold and held prices firm, driving spot premiums sharply higher. Demand side, copper processing enterprises in the province showed weak acceptance of high copper prices and high premiums, with insufficient willingness to stockpile before the holiday, overall transactions were sluggish during the week, and cargoes in the province continued to flow out to other provinces. Looking ahead to next week, with the National Day holiday approaching, stockpiling by enterprises in the province has already come to an end, market trading will become even more sluggish, but due to severe spot tightness, spot premiums are unlikely to pull back quickly.