October 22, 2026 news:
Guangdong region: This week, premiums in the region showed a sustained upward trend, mainly because after the contract rollover with a large price spread between futures contracts, premiums returned to a high premium state, coupled with inventory rising again, which stimulated spot premiums to move higher. As of Thursday, high-quality copper was quoted at a premium of 750 yuan/mt, up 600 yuan/mt from last Thursday; standard-quality copper was quoted at a premium of 500 yuan/mt, up 600 yuan/mt from last Thursday; and SX-EW copper was quoted at a premium of 440 yuan/mt, up 600 yuan/mt from last Thursday. On Thursday, the price spread for standard-quality copper premiums between Shanghai and Guangdong was Shanghai higher by 100 yuan/mt, a relatively small spread with no cross-region transfers. According to SMM statistics, as of Thursday, total inventory in Guangdong warehouses was 15,500 mt, down 1,300 mt from last Thursday, with warrants totaling 4,042 mt, down 918 mt. Specifically: This week, warehouse arrivals were 16,400 mt/week, up 5,000 mt/week from last week, slightly above the annual average (14,000 mt/week). The main reason for the increase in arrivals was active delivery to warehouses by smelters before delivery. Warehouse withdrawals were 17,300 mt/week, down 1,700 mt from last week, far above the annual average (14,200 mt/week). After copper prices pulled back, downstream restocking enthusiasm increased.
Looking ahead to next week, supply is expected to continue to decrease due to maintenance at nearby smelters, but downstream consumption is expected to increase as copper prices move lower. Therefore, we believe inventory will continue to decline next week, and spot premiums will remain at high levels.
