Today, spot #1 copper cathode in North China traded at a discount of 200 yuan/mt to 140 yuan/mt against the front-month contract, with an average discount of 170 yuan/mt, up 10 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The transaction prices ranged from 78,520 yuan/mt to 78,720 yuan/mt, with an average price of 78,620 yuan/mt, unchanged from the previous trading day.

[SMM Morning Meeting Summary: US Engages in Trade Talks with Multiple Countries, Copper Prices Stabilize Temporarily] On June 6, spot #1 copper cathode against the SHFE copper 2506 contract was quoted at parity to a premium of 150 yuan/mt, with an average quoted premium of 75 yuan/mt, down 15 yuan/mt MoM. Looking ahead to this week, as the contract rollover approaches, there is still a gap between the current open interest and the existing warrant inventory. Moreover, the BACK price spread between futures contracts for the next month is only 100 yuan/mt. With smelters expressing intentions to export...

[US May Employment Data Better Than Expected; Copper Prices Expected to Find Support Today Amid Progress in Trade Talks] On the macro side, data showed that US employment growth in May was better than expected, although the growth rate slowed down compared to the previous month, suggesting that the US Fed may wait longer before cutting interest rates. Data from the US Department of Labor indicated that employers added 139,000 jobs in May, fewer than the 147,000 jobs added in April but exceeding the 130,000 increase forecasted in a survey of economists. Due to the better-than-expected US employment data, the US dollar strengthened, putting pressure on copper prices.

[SMM Analysis: Secondary Copper Rod Sales Continue to Incur Losses, Operating Rate Decline Exceeds Expectations] In May, the operating rate of secondary copper rod was 29.92%, lower than the expected 32.74%, down 3.97% MoM and 12.13% YoY. In May, Sino-US trade tensions eased somewhat, but China still imposed a 10% tariff on all US imports. Therefore, it remained difficult for US secondary copper raw materials to enter the Chinese market, and expectations of a continued decline in overseas supply persisted. The supply of domestically produced secondary copper raw materials was affected by the narrow fluctuations in copper prices...

Copper Pipe & Tube Enterprises' Operating Rate in May Was 81.76%

[SMM Analysis:The Back structure is difficult to sustain ] Since 2024, the price of sulfuric acid in Chinese copper smelters has continued to rise, and the trend of sulfuric acid prices has formed a sharp contrast with the trend of spot processing fees for copper concentrates.

SMM Analysis: According to SMM, the operating rate of copper foil enterprises in May 2025 was 72.16%, up 0.65 percentage points MoM and down 0.11 percentage points YoY...