Japanese companies increase investment in copper mines in order to seize the electric vehicle market

[SMM Shanghai Spot Copper] Looking ahead to tomorrow, the absolute price of SHFE copper pulled back from the previous trading day, which helped release some downstream dip-buying demand, and market transactions improved slightly from the earlier period. However, the backwardation spread between contract months widened again to above 550 yuan/mt, pushing up suppliers' position-rolling costs and significantly strengthening their willingness to sell spot cargoes. Intraday quotes for standard-quality copper were lowered repeatedly to facilitate transactions, exerting strong pressure on spot premiums. Meanwhile, although downstream users made some just-in-time procurement, their acceptance of spot premiums, which remain at elevated levels, was limited. Purchases were concentrated more on lower-priced cargoes, with little willingness to chase higher prices. Overall, with the widening backwardation spread, active selling by suppliers, and downstream buyers pushing for lower prices, spot prices against the SHFE copper 2609 contract are expected to face slight downward pressure tomorrow. However, with demand improving marginally after the pullback in copper prices and transactions for some lower-priced cargoes proceeding relatively smoothly, the room for further declines in premiums is expected to be relatively limited.