Operating Rate to Fall Further at China Major Copper Wire & Cable Producers in August, SMM Expects

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s justice ministry said on November 2 that an inter-agency operation had seized more than 500 trucks and other machines, along with several thousand tonnes of copper and cobalt, across mining sites in Lualaba and Haut-Katanga provinces, including Menda. The statement did not specify the materials’ physical form or contained metal content. Justice Minister Guillaume Ngefa instructed the prosecutor-general at the Court of Cassation to investigate suspected mining fraud, illegal extraction and mineral smuggling, and establish any criminal liability. He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to combating mining fraud and illegal exploitation of natural resources, describing these efforts as necessary to safeguard national sovereignty and economic interests, and to fulfil the president’s commitments.

[SMM Shanghai Spot Copper] Looking ahead to tomorrow, the current pattern of weak supply and demand in the Shanghai spot market persists. On the supply side, available cargoes in the market remain tight, with some suppliers holding limited inventories and showing little willingness to sell at low prices, providing some support for spot premiums. On the demand side, although SHFE copper prices pulled back notably during the day, procurement enthusiasm among downstream processing enterprises has yet to show significant improvement, with a strong wait-and-see sentiment prevailing in the market. Some buyers are concentrating their bids around premiums of 1,100 yuan/mt, creating a certain divergence from supplier quotes, and actual transactions remain primarily driven by rigid demand. Meanwhile, the intraday backwardation spread between futures contracts fluctuated significantly, widening to above 1,000 yuan/mt at one point. The elevated spread combined with high spot premiums continued to push up procurement costs for downstream buyers, further suppressing market transactions. Overall, tight circulating supply still underpins spot premiums, but weak demand and the high backwardation structure are limiting further upside in premiums. Shanghai spot copper premiums are expected to stay high tomorrow.