China’s copper output up 7.6% YoY in Nov: NBS

Intraday, the SHFE copper 2603 contract fell below the 100,000-yuan mark for the second time after trading began. According to SMM, spot market activity today pulled back from March 9, when the contract first fell below 100,000 yuan, with overall trading sentiment remaining subdued on both buying and selling sides. On March 16, 2026, SMM's sentiment index for procurement in the Shanghai spot market was 2.53, while the sales sentiment index was 2.63, both down 0.29 from March 9. Historical data is available in the database. According to SMM, when copper prices fell below 100,000 yuan on March 9, some enterprises had restocking demand, which briefly boosted spot trade and brought it to a post-Chinese New Year trading high. But based on market feedback today, the contract rollover in futures may have had an impact. With copper prices again trading below the 100,000-yuan threshold, downstream enterprises showed signs of weaker acceptance.

The following table shows the ferrous and nonferrous metals movement on the SHFE and DCE on 16 Mar , 2026