SMM May 7 update:
Today in Guangdong, #1 copper cathode spot prices against the front-month contract: high-quality copper was quoted at a premium of 270 yuan/mt, unchanged from the previous trading day; standard-quality copper was quoted at a premium of 190 yuan/mt, up 10 yuan/mt from the previous trading day; SX-EW copper was quoted at a premium of 120 yuan/mt, unchanged from the previous trading day. The average price of Guangdong #1 copper cathode was 103,025 yuan/mt, up 475 yuan/mt from the previous trading day; the average price of SX-EW copper was 102,915 yuan/mt, up 470 yuan/mt from the previous trading day.
Spot market: Guangdong inventory continued to increase, mainly due to increased arrivals and reduced warehouse withdrawals. Despite the continued inventory increase, suppliers showed no willingness to lower prices for shipments. Quotes remained firm today, with standard-quality copper briefly quoted at a premium of 200 yuan/mt during the early session. However, downstream buyers purchased cautiously amid rising copper prices, and suppliers had to lower premiums before transactions were concluded. Today, the purchasing sentiment for copper cathode in Guangdong was 2.43, up 0.11 from the previous trading day, and the shipment sentiment was 3.25, up 0.04 from the previous trading day (historical data available in the SMM database).
Overall, downstream consumption was moderate amid rising copper prices, and trading activity remained relatively quiet.
