US copper tariff relief expectations, overnight copper prices plunge [SMM Copper Morning Comment]

SMM News on September 11: Overnight, LME copper opened at $14,499/mt, hit a high of $14,505/mt shortly after the open, then saw its price center move lower throughout the session, touching a low of $14,147/mt near the close, and finally settled at $14,182.5/mt, down 4.25%. Trading volume reached 44,000 lots, and open interest stood at 273,000 lots, up 1,345 lots from the previous trading day, indicating bears added positions. Overnight, the most-traded SHFE copper 2610 contract opened at 108,500 yuan/mt, touched a high of 109,090 yuan/mt in early trading, then saw its price center move lower throughout the session, touching a low of 108,350 yuan/mt near the close, and finally settled at 108,360 yuan/mt, down 3.02%. Trading volume reached 127,000 lots, and open interest stood at 205,000 lots, down 29,600 lots from the previous trading day, indicating bulls reduced positions. On the macro front, reports said the White House had yet to make a decision on tariffs on copper cathode, and officials were weighing the potential benefits of encouraging domestic ore mining against the possibility that rising copper prices could push up manufacturing costs. This news eased market concerns over tight copper supply in non-US regions, and copper prices fell under pressure. On the fundamentals front, supply side, arrivals of both domestically produced and imported cargoes increased in the short term, with supply turning marginally looser; demand side, after copper prices broke above previous highs, downstream acceptance of current prices was relatively low and wait-and-see sentiment was strong, with demand weakening noticeably. On inventories, as of Thursday, September 10, SMM copper inventories in major regions nationwide fell 1,400 mt WoW from the previous Thursday to 87,500 mt. Overall, copper prices were expected to consolidate on a subdued note within a narrow range today.