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

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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 ().

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