Today, the most-traded BC copper 2604 contract opened at 81,380 yuan/mt and immediately touched a low below 81,110 yuan/mt. After the opening, its center kept rising, and near the close it touched a high above 85,140 yuan/mt, before finally closing at 83,810 yuan/mt, down 1. Open interest stood at 5,292 lots, down 273 lots from the previous trading day, while trading volume reached 8,470 lots, up 1,184 lots from the previous trading day. On the macro front, expectations for US Fed interest rate cuts continued to cool, and the market even began to price in bets on interest rate hikes. In the Middle East, both Israel and the US denied attacking Iran’s gas field and pledged to suspend strikes, while the US even indicated it might lift maritime oil sanctions on Iran to push down oil prices. However, Iran stressed that its retaliation was not over and planned to levy transit fees on the Strait of Hormuz. Elevated oil prices intensified market concerns over inflation and a weakening economy, leaving copper prices under pressure. Fundamentally, arrivals of both imported and domestic cargoes remained stable, with overall supply ample. Demand side, as copper prices stayed at low levels, downstream buyers maintained purchase willingness.
The SHFE copper 2604 contract closed at 94,780 yuan/mt. Based on the BC copper 2604 contract price of 83,810 yuan/mt, its after-tax price was 94,705 yuan/mt. The price spread between the SHFE copper 2604 contract and BC copper was 75 yuan/mt, and the price spread remained in contango structure, narrowing from the previous day.
