End-User Just-in-Time Procurement Difficult to Recover, Tight Supply Pushes Up North China Discounts [SMM North China Spot Copper]

Published: Jul 7, 2026 11:47

Save

Today, spot #1 copper cathode in North China was quoted against the front-month contract at a discount of 100 yuan/mt to a discount of 20 yuan/mt, with an average discount of 60 yuan/mt, up 30 yuan/mt from the previous trading day, and the average transaction price was 103,035 yuan/mt, down 45 yuan/mt from the previous trading day.

SMM, July 7:

Today, in North China, the #1 copper cathode spot prices against the front-month contract were reported at an average discount of 100 yuan/mt to a discount of 20 yuan/mt, with the average discount at 60 yuan/mt, up 30 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The average transaction price was 103,035 yuan/mt, down 45 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. Downstream users only made just-in-time procurement, with end-use demand showing no significant improvement. However, the supply of circulating spot resources remained tight, and suppliers' willingness to hold prices firm pushed spot discounts to continue narrowing. Overall market trading sentiment was weak. Today, the buying sentiment for copper cathode in North China was 2.41, up 0.02 from the previous trading day, and the selling sentiment was 2.44, down 0.02 from the previous trading day ().

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 for 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

26 mins ago

Copper Prices Consolidate, Copper Scrap Market Trading Sluggish [SMM Secondary Copper Daily Review]

26 mins ago

27 mins ago

In July, the copper billet industry is expected to remain at low operating levels.

[SMM Brass Billet Flash] Based on frontline survey feedback from a sample of copper billet enterprises nationwide, market expectations for the industry's performance in July are generally pessimistic. Near-term improvement drivers remain insufficient, and multiple negative factors will continue to ferment. SMM expects the comprehensive operating rate of China's copper billet producers to pull back 2.44 percentage points MoM to 43.65% in July, down 1.17 percentage points YoY. The industry's low-level operation trend is expected to continue.

27 mins ago

30 mins ago

Demand Structure Divergence of Copper Billet Enterprises

[SMM Brass Billet Flash] According to SMM, the current demand structure exhibits a notable divergence: orders for traditional brass products continue to weaken, while demand for high-purity copper billets provides a strong offset. NEV three electric systems (power battery, drive motor and electronic control system), large power charging piles, Power Conversion System (PCS), and parts such as AI servers, GPU cooling modules, and precision pins for optical modules persistently release steady rigid demand, keeping orders stable for copper billet enterprises and making this the only segment in the industry with demand resilience.

30 mins ago