Shanghai Copper Market to Face Ongoing Pressure Amid Slower Demand and Contango Structure

On April 1, the world's largest single-phase integrated "CSP + energy storage" project — China Energy Engineering Hami 1,500 MW "PV (CSP) + energy storage" base PV zone officially commenced construction in Balikun, Xinjiang. The project adopts a "PV + CSP + thermal energy storage" model, equipped with 8-hour molten salt ESS, enabling stable round-the-clock power supply. Upon completion, annual power generation is expected to reach approximately 3 billion kWh, with annual carbon reduction of 2.256 million mt. China Energy Engineering Gezhouba No. 3 Company undertakes the 406.97 MWp PV section.

According to BJX (Polaris Power Network), on April 3, Gansu issued its "15th Five-Year Plan" outline, clearly positioning itself as the general hub of the northwest power grid and the main corridor for west-to-east power transmission, and advancing the "trinity" construction of "large-scale bases + supporting coal-fired power + UHV corridors": enhancing the capacity of the Jiuquan-Hunan DC line and the Gansu-to-Shandong power transmission, completing the Gansu-to-Zhejiang and Gansu-to-Sichuan power transmission projects, planning new corridors for desert bases, and striving to have 6 operational UHV DC lines; advancing Shaanxi-Qinghai-Ningxia power mutual support and the 750 kV backbone grid to ensure large-scale new energy power transmission and inter-provincial consumption.

Chile's central bank reported that the country's copper export value in March reached $5.16 billion, up 14% YoY. Chile is the world's largest copper-producing country. The bank also said the country posted a trade surplus of $3.06 billion for the month, slightly above the $3 billion expected by economists in a survey.