Trading was thin on the last trading day of the year-end, as suppliers held back on sales for the holidays, leading to a narrowing of spot discounts. [SMM Shanghai spot copper]

Published: Dec 31, 2025 15:29

Save

[SMM Shanghai Spot Copper] Next week, after the New Year's Day holiday, spot discounts for SHFE copper are expected to narrow compared to this week, taking into account the funding costs over the holiday. Approaching the delivery date, suppliers are likely to send more spot copper to delivery warehouses to facilitate the process, and spot discounts are expected to gradually narrow.

SMM December 31:

Today, SMM's #1 copper cathode spot prices against the current month 2601 contract were quoted at a discount of 250 yuan/mt to a premium of 130 yuan/mt, with the average price quoted at a premium of 190 yuan/mt, up 50 yuan/mt from the previous trading day; the SMM #1 copper cathode price ranged from 98,230 to 99,410 yuan/mt. In the morning session, the SHFE copper 2601 contract rose from 98,500 yuan/mt to above 99,600 yuan/mt, before giving back some of the gains. The contango price spread between the nearby futures contracts fluctuated between 120-60 yuan/mt, and the import loss for the current month's SHFE copper contract was around 1,200 yuan/mt.

As the day marked the last trading day of 2025 and also coincided with the final calendar day, enterprises largely halted trading due to considerations such as settlement, with only a small number of downstream buyers still making necessary purchases, resulting in limited transactions. In the morning, suppliers offered spot cargo at discounts around 200 yuan/mt, with some deals concluded in Jiangsu and Shanghai; high-quality copper, such as Jinchuan (plate), traded at discounts around 150 yuan/mt. During the session, as copper prices climbed to 99,600 yuan/mt, suppliers slightly lowered their offers to discounts of 250 yuan/mt, but low-priced sources were scarce.

Looking ahead to next week, after the New Year's Day holiday, considering the funding costs associated with the holiday, spot discounts for SHFE copper are expected to narrow compared to this week. As the delivery date approaches, suppliers are likely to send more cargo to delivery warehouses to facilitate settlement, and spot discounts for SHFE copper are anticipated to gradually shrink.

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM‘s internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

For any inquiries or to learn more information, please contact: lemonzhao@smm.cn

For more information on how to access our research reports, please contact:service.en@smm.cn

Related News

11 hours ago

"Premier Li Qiang Leads State Council Meeting on Enhancing Effective Investment, Boosting Economic Growth"

Premier Li Qiang presided over an executive meeting of the State Council to study policy measures for promoting effective investment. The meeting noted that promoting effective investment plays an important role in stabilizing economic growth and strengthening momentum for development. It is necessary to innovate and improve policy measures, and intensify efforts to enhance the efficiency of utilizing funds such as central budget investments, ultra-long-term special treasury bonds, local government special bonds, and new-type policy-based financial instruments. In conjunction with formulating and implementing the 15th Five-Year Plan

11 hours ago

"Guided by Xi Jinping Thought, Implement 20th CPC Congress Spirit, Apply New Development Philosophy...

Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we will thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the plenary sessions of the Party’s 20th Central Committee, fully and faithfully apply the new development philosophy, strengthen top-level design, build computing power interconnection nodes oriented toward national hub periods, major strategic regions, and key industries, establish a system of computing power interconnection nodes, improve the efficiency and service level of public computing power resources, and promote high-quality development of computing power.

11 hours ago

Indirect Iran-US Nuclear Talks in Muscat Show Progress, Omani FM Mediates Tense but Efficient Discussions

After intensive indirect consultations, the new round of nuclear talks between Iran and the US in Muscat, the capital of Oman, has achieved phased progress. It is reported that during this round of talks, the Iranian and US delegations did not meet directly. Instead, Omani Foreign Minister Badr acted as an intermediary, conveying a series of core proposals, strategic concerns, and policy positions to the other side. The atmosphere at the talks was tense yet efficient. According to preliminary on-site assessments, although both sides continue to negotiate over specific terms, they have reached a consensus on the key objective of "continuing dialogue."

11 hours ago