Copper Prices to Keep Rising, SMM Says

Jain Resource Recycling has received regulatory approval to resume most manufacturing activities at its Unit II facility in Tamil Nadu. The specific shed affected by the July 14 furnace accident and fire remains excluded from the restart approval, while the timeline for restoring the damaged area has not been disclosed.

The US has authorised potential export restrictions on waste streams containing recoverable critical minerals, including black mass, end-of-life magnets and certain electronic waste. Copper scrap is explicitly excluded because it is already covered by a separate copper policy framework introduced in July 2025. The move nevertheless reinforces the broader trend toward domestic retention of secondary raw materials.

SMM Morning Meeting Summary: Last Friday night, LME copper opened at $13,819.5/mt, touched a session high of $13,883/mt, then pulled back under pressure and dipped to $13,729.5/mt. It recouped some losses near the close and finally settled at $13,803/mt, up 0.03%. Trading volume was 16,800 lots, and open interest increased to 250,200 lots, up 3,988 lots from the previous trading day, indicating bullish additions. Last Friday night, the most-traded SHFE copper 2609 contract opened at 105,460 yuan/mt, rose to a session high of 105,780 yuan/mt, then drifted lower and dipped to 105,140 yuan/mt, and finally settled at 105,360 yuan/mt, down 0.09%.