Inventories Rose for Two Consecutive Days but Suppliers Continued to Hold Prices Firm for Shipments, While Actual Trading Was Not Strong [SMM South China Spot Copper]

Published: Apr 29, 2026 11:33

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SMM April 28:

Guangdong #1 copper cathode spot prices against the front-month contract: high-quality copper was quoted at a premium of 320 yuan/mt, flat from the previous trading day; standard-quality copper at a premium of 240 yuan/mt, up 10 yuan/mt; SX-EW copper at a premium of 180 yuan/mt, up 10 yuan/mt. The average price of Guangdong #1 copper cathode was 101,540 yuan/mt, down 780 yuan/mt from the previous trading day; the average price of SX-EW copper was 101,440 yuan/mt, down 775 yuan/mt.

Spot market: Guangdong inventory rose for two consecutive days, mainly due to weak downstream consumption. According to our research, many downstream processing enterprises planned 3-4 days off for the Labour Day holiday. However, suppliers remained unwilling to lower prices and continued to hold prices firm for shipments, resulting in very few actual transactions. Additionally, affected by invoice issues, many traders also showed reduced enthusiasm for purchases, with overall trading activity remaining weak. Guangdong copper cathode purchasing sentiment was 2.22, down 0.08 from the previous trading day, while shipments sentiment was 3.6, down 0.08 (historical data available in the SMM database).

Overall, inventory rose for two consecutive days but suppliers continued to hold prices firm for shipments. However, actual trading activity remained sluggish and was expected to gradually recover after the holiday.

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM‘s internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

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