Copper prices fell, but end-use demand was weak, and suppliers proactively cut prices to sell[SMM South China Spot Copper]

Published: Jul 13, 2026 11:30

SMM, July 13:

Today, spot Guangdong #1 copper cathode against the current month contract: high-quality copper was quoted at a premium of 80 yuan/mt, down 30 yuan/mt from the previous trading day; standard-quality copper was quoted at a discount of 10 yuan/mt, down 60 yuan/mt from the previous trading day; SX-EW copper was quoted at a discount of 80 yuan/mt, down 70 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The average price of Guangdong #1 copper cathode was 103,320 yuan/mt, down 710 yuan/mt from the previous trading day, and the average price of SX-EW copper was 103,215 yuan/mt, down 725 yuan/mt from the previous trading day.

Spot market: After the weekend, Guangdong's inventory finally ended its seven-day consecutive decline, with increased arrivals and weakened consumption being the main reasons. Although copper prices dropped significantly today, downstream purchasing was not very active. In early trading, standard-quality copper was quoted at a premium of 20 yuan/mt, but there were few buyers, forcing suppliers to lower prices for sales, and ultimately the transaction price for standard-quality copper was only a discount of 10 yuan/mt. Today, the purchasing sentiment for copper cathode in Guangdong was 2.44, up only 0.04 from the previous trading day, and the selling sentiment was 2.99, up 0.02 from the previous trading day (historical data can be accessed via the database).

Overall, copper prices fell but end-use demand was sluggish, with suppliers proactively lowering prices to sell, resulting in overall weak trading.

         

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.

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