Copper Prices Peak, Downstream Scrap Utilization Enterprises Wait and See [SMM Secondary Copper Daily Review]

SMM August 10

       At 11:30 today, the futures closing price was 107,770 yuan/mt, down 630 yuan/mt from the previous trading day, and the average spot premiums were 80 yuan/mt, up 10 yuan/mt DoD. The copper scrap price fell 300 yuan/mt DoD, with the copper scrap sales sentiment index falling to 2.71 and the purchasing sentiment index to 1.96. The price difference between copper cathode and copper scrap was 4,404 yuan/mt, down 281 yuan/mt DoD. The price difference between copper cathode rod and secondary copper rod was 1,650 yuan/mt. According to the SMM survey, under earlier arbitrage trading, downstream scrap utilization enterprises had allocated considerable funds to raw material procurement and futures. As copper prices pulled back after a short-term peak, scrap utilization enterprises awaited opportunities to take profits on futures, and they did not take action in spot procurement during the initial stage of the copper price pullback. Meanwhile, copper scrap suppliers were eager to offload their high-priced inventories, and intraday transactions showed mediocre performance.