Intraday Copper Prices Give Up Gains, Most-Traded BC Copper Contract Closes Slightly Lower [SMM BC Copper Commentary]

SMM, February 26: Today, the most-traded BC copper 2504 futures contract opened at 68,840 yuan/mt, closing with a bearish candlestick. The upper shadow pierced through the 10-day moving average, while the lower shadow pierced through the 20-day moving average. Overnight, the most-traded BC copper 04 contract opened higher with a gap, testing the 69,000 yuan/mt level, reaching a high of 69,180 yuan/mt before moving downwards as bulls reduced positions. The contract hit bottom at 68,210 yuan/mt by the session close. During the morning trading session, the futures market moved downwards after a higher opening, giving up gains as bulls exited. In the afternoon trading session, the most-traded BC copper 04 contract fluctuated within the range of 68,630-68,790 yuan/mt, eventually closing at 68,700 yuan/mt, down by 60 yuan/mt or 0.09%. The decline was mainly attributed to bears reducing positions, with open interest at 8,023 lots, a decrease of 283 lots compared to the previous trading day. Trading volume reached 13,172 lots, an increase of 2,247 lots from the previous day.

Macro side, Trump ordered a Section 232 investigation into copper, which could lead to new tariff policies and further widen the price spread between COMEX copper and LME copper. Meanwhile, a large-scale power outage in Chile raised concerns about potential impacts on copper mines. However, subsequent reports indicated no impact on shipments. Intraday, copper futures opened higher but gave up gains.

The SHFE copper 2504 contract closed at 77,130 yuan/mt. Based on the BC copper 2504 contract price of 68,700 yuan/mt, its tax-inclusive price is approximately 77,631 yuan/mt. The price spread between the SHFE copper 2504 contract and the BC copper 2504 contract stood at -501 yuan/mt, maintaining a backwardation and narrowing compared to the previous trading day.