July Suppliers Stopped Cutting Prices and Turned to Holding Prices Firm, Spurring a Sharp Rise in Premiums [SMM South China Spot Copper]

SMM July 1 Report:

Today, Guangdong #1 copper cathode spot against the front-month contract: high-quality copper was quoted at a premium of 50 yuan/mt, up 50 yuan/mt from the previous trading day; standard-quality copper was quoted at 0 yuan/mt, up 90 yuan/mt from the previous trading day; SX-EW copper was quoted at a discount of 60 yuan/mt, up 90 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The average price of #1 copper cathode in Guangdong was 102,220 yuan/mt, up 140 yuan/mt from the previous trading day, and the average SX-EW copper price was 102,135 yuan/mt, up 160 yuan/mt.

Spot market: Guangdong inventory had increased for nine consecutive days, mainly due to weak consumption and increased arrivals. Entering July, suppliers stopped lowering prices to sell and instead held prices firm. As a result, spot premiums surged sharply. Transaction prices for standard-quality copper ranged from -10 yuan/mt to 0 yuan/mt. Due to the excessively rapid and steep increase in premiums, overall trading only improved slightly compared with yesterday. Today, the electrolytic copper purchasing sentiment in Guangdong stood at 2.45, edging up 0.05 from the previous trading day, while the selling sentiment was 2.89, up 0.06 (historical data can be queried by logging into the database).

Overall, in July, suppliers shifted from cutting prices to holding prices firm, fueling a sharp increase in premiums.