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Rio Tinto has suspended operations at its Kennecott copper mine in Utah after a fatal accident involving a contract worker. The mine is one of the most significant copper producers in the United States. The company said operations will remain halted while a full safety investigation is conducted.

SMM Morning Meeting Summary: Overnight, LME copper opened at $13,044/mt. It touched a high of $13,063.5/mt in early trading, then the center moved lower to a low of $12,929/mt, and finally closed at $12,948.5/mt, down 0.77%. Trading volume came in at 17,000 lots, down 235 lots from the previous trading day; open interest stood at 304,000 lots, up 279 lots from the previous trading day, mainly reflecting an increase in bears' positions overall. Overnight, the most-traded SHFE copper 2604 contract opened at 101,240 yuan/mt. It touched a high of 101,240 yuan/mt at the open, then the center moved lower to a low of 100,560 yuan/mt, and finally closed at 100,860 yuan/mt, down 0.15%. Trading volume came in at 26,000 lots, down 62,000 lots from the previous trading day; open interest stood at 189,000 lots, down 3,320 lots from the previous trading day, mainly reflecting a reduction in bulls' positions overall.

[SMM Copper Anode] After the holiday, scrap-derived copper anode producers in China had all resumed normal operations. From March 6 to March 12, the operating rate of SMM scrap-derived copper anode producers was 58.81%, up 10.43 percentage points MoM. As the price difference between primary metal and scrap narrowed and copper anode RCs remained high, the operating rate is expected to fall to 58.72% next week.