Inventory Rises and Copper Prices Rebound Downstream Purchasing Remains Lethargic [SMM South China Spot Copper]

Published: Mar 2, 2026 11:30

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SMM March 2 Update:

Today, in Guangdong, #1 copper cathode spot prices against the front-month contract: high-quality copper was quoted at a discount of 50 yuan/mt, down 20 yuan/mt; standard-quality copper was quoted at a discount of 280 yuan/mt, down 50 yuan/mt; SX-EW copper was quoted at a discount of 340 yuan/mt, down 50 yuan/mt. The average price of #1 copper cathode in Guangdong was 102,290 yuan/mt, up 335 yuan/mt from the previous trading day, while the average price of SX-EW copper was 102,115 yuan/mt, down 50 yuan/mt from the previous trading day.

Spot market: Inventory in Guangdong has increased for six consecutive days, mainly due to slow recovery in downstream consumption. With rising inventory and rebounding copper prices, downstream buyers were not active, and suppliers had to lower premiums to ship goods, resulting in moderate overall trading. Today, the purchasing sentiment for electrolytic copper in the Guangdong region was 2.4, down 0.1 from the previous trading day, and the shipping sentiment was 3.1, up 0.1 from the previous trading day. (Historical data can be accessed by logging into the database.)

Overall, with rising inventory and rebounding copper prices, downstream buyers were not active, and overall trading was moderate.

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.

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