[SMM Shanghai spot copper] Shanghai inventory increased by 8,100 mt to 84,000 mt over the weekend, with most of the increase supplemented by imported sources. However, importers were not in a hurry to ship goods during the day, and there is pressure to ship imported goods this week. The center of spot premiums for SHFE copper may decline.

Today, in North China, spot #1 copper cathode was trading at a discount of 150 yuan/mt to 90 yuan/mt against the front-month contract, with an average discount of 120 yuan/mt, a decrease of 10 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The transaction price ranged from 77,960 yuan/mt to 78,110 yuan/mt, with an average price of 78,035 yuan/mt, a decrease of 240 yuan/mt from the previous trading day.

Futures market: Overnight, LME copper opened at $9,626/mt, initially touched a high of $9,665/mt, then fluctuated downward to a low of $9,580.5/mt during the session, and ended rangebound at $9,607/mt by the close, down 1.26%.

[SMM Morning Meeting Summary: Weak Downstream Consumption Leads to Encounter Resistance on Copper Prices] On August 1, spot premiums for SMM #1 copper cathode against the August 2508 contract were reported at a range of 130-220 yuan/mt, with an average premium of 175 yuan/mt, down 5 yuan/mt MoM. Overall, despite the continuous decline in inventory, spot premiums remained poor, primarily due to weak downstream demand. Looking ahead to next week, it is expected that copper prices in the range of 78,000-78,500 yuan/mt will struggle to attract significant downstream purchases, and spot premiums are unlikely to rise significantly...

[SMM Analysis:Overview of Q2 2025 Copper Production from the World’s Top 13 Mining Companies] According to the Q2 2025 reports released by some major mining companies, the combined copper output of these 13 firms in Q2 2025 totaled 2.642 million tonnes, a year-on-year (YoY) decrease of 0.76% but a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) increase of 3.98%. In the first half of 2025, their total copper production reached 5.184 million tonnes, marking a cumulative YoY decline of 1.19%, equivalent to a reduction of 62,000 tonnes of copper metal.

[SMM Analysis:Copper Consumption in New Energy Vehicles H1 2025] On July 16, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) released data showing:January-June 2025 NEV production reached 6.968 million units, representing a 41.4% year-on-year increase.According to SMM estimates, full-year 2025 NEV production is forecast at 16.29 million units, with second-half production expected to reach 9.32 million units.

 On the macro front, the US dollar has rebounded continuously, supported by strong US economic indicators such as June's non-farm payrolls and manufacturing data.

According to SMM data, the operating rate of enamelled wire industry machinery this week rebounded by 0.13 percentage points MoM to ...