Copper prices fall, while consumption of copper cathode rod improves slightly. Rebound in operating rate fails to conceal YoY weakness[SMM Analysis]: According to SMM data, the weekly operating rate (from July 11th to July 17th) of major domestic copper cathode rod enterprises rebounded as expected to 74.22%, up 7.22 percentage points WoW, 0.36 percentage points lower than the expected value, and up 1.36 percentage points YoY.

Today, in North China, spot #1 copper cathode was trading at a discount of 150 yuan/mt to 70 yuan/mt against the front-month contract, with an average discount of 110 yuan/mt, unchanged from the previous trading day. The transaction price ranged from 79,020 yuan/mt to 79,430 yuan/mt, with an average price of 79,225 yuan/mt, up 850 yuan/mt from the previous trading day.

Futures market: LME copper opened at $9,729/mt last Friday night, initially fluctuating rangebound and testing the low of $9,710/mt before gradually moving higher and probing $9,799/mt near the session close, eventually settling at $9,794.5/mt, up 1.2%.

[SMM Morning Meeting Summary: Copper Prices Rebound from Low Levels, with Demand Response Turning Sensitive and Weakening] On July 18, spot prices of #1 copper cathode against the August 2508 contract were reported at a premium of 100-250 yuan/mt, with an average premium of 175 yuan/mt, up 70 yuan/mt MoM. Looking ahead to this week, if smelters promptly replenish supplies to Shanghai warehouses over the weekend, this situation may be alleviated. However, if the replenishment of supplies is delayed, it is expected that there will still be a tight supply of brands for delivery at the beginning of this week...

SMM data shows that the operating pace of the enamelled wire industry slowed down slightly this week, with the machine utilization rate dropping slightly by 0.2 percentage points MoM to......

In the first half of 2025, copper prices in the three markets (COMEX, LME, and SHFE) exhibited a wave-like upward trend. After a sharp drop in early April, strong buying interest continued to drive copper prices higher in a wave-like pattern.

[SMM Shanghai spot copper] Looking ahead to next week, even if smelters replenish their supplies to Shanghai warehouses over the weekend, this phenomenon may only alleviate the situation. If the replenishment of supplies does not arrive in a timely manner, it is expected that there will still be a shortage of brands for delivery at the beginning of next week.