[SMM Special Report: Copper Market Competition Escalates in H2 - Who Will Dominate amid Macro Policies, Supply-Demand Pattern, and Tariff Disruptions?] Copper prices ended H1 on an upward trend this year - LME copper saw a 12.66% increase in its semi-annual line, SHFE copper rose by 8.22%, and SMM #1 copper cathode recorded a cumulative increase of 8.4% in H1. Now, as H2 unfolds, whether these factors that drove copper prices higher in H1 will continue to play a role has become the focus of market attention!

[First Half of the Year Passed, Finished Goods Inventory Awaits Consumption; Operating Rate of Copper Cathode Rod Enterprises Turns Negative YoY] The weekly operating rate (from June 27 to July 3) of major domestic copper cathode rod enterprises unexpectedly declined to 63.74%, down 10.27 percentage points MoM, 9.74 percentage points lower than the expected value, and turning negative YoY with a decline of 4.75 percentage points.

[SMM Analysis: Rapid surge in copper prices triggers panic over hoarding, "frozen circulation" of secondary raw materials leaves copper rod producers "short of materials"] Copper prices struggled to rise, with the price center pulling back at the end of the week. The weekly increase was 660 yuan/mt. The price of bare bright copper in Guangdong ranged from 74,200 to 74,400 yuan/mt, with an increase of 1,000 yuan/mt...