After the contract rollover, copper prices pulled back significantly, and downstream purchasing increased [SMM South China Spot Copper]

Published: Jul 16, 2026 11:31

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SMM July 16:

Guangdong #1 copper cathode spot prices against the front-month contract: high-quality copper was quoted at a premium of 180 yuan/mt, up 100 yuan/mt from the previous trading day; standard-quality copper was quoted at a premium of 100 yuan/mt, up 120 yuan/mt; SX-EW copper was quoted at a premium of 40 yuan/mt, up 120 yuan/mt. The average price of Guangdong #1 copper cathode was 104,180 yuan/mt, down 1,025 yuan/mt from the previous trading day, and the average price of SX-EW copper was 104,080 yuan/mt, down 1,015 yuan/mt.

Spot market: Guangdong inventory declined for two consecutive days, mainly due to reduced arrivals. After the futures contract rollover, the large price spread between futures contracts caused spot premiums to surge significantly. Downstream users, seeing a notable pullback in copper prices, showed more restocking enthusiasm than yesterday, and overall transactions improved. Today, the purchasing sentiment for copper cathode in Guangdong was 2.47, up only 0.08 from the previous trading day, while the selling sentiment was 2.91, up 0.03 (historical data can be accessed via database query).

Overall, after the contract rollover, copper prices pulled back significantly, downstream purchasing increased, and overall trading improved.

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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