Copper Price Pullback Still Failed to Boost Consumption, Suppliers Had to Cut Prices for Shipments [SMM South China Spot Copper]

SMM May 26:

Guangdong #1 copper cathode spot prices against the front-month contract today: high-quality copper was quoted at a premium of 160 yuan/mt, flat from the previous trading day; standard-quality copper was quoted at a premium of 80 yuan/mt, down 20 yuan/mt from the previous trading day; SX-EW copper was quoted at a premium of 10 yuan/mt, down 20 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The average price of Guangdong #1 copper cathode was 105,010 yuan/mt, down 735 yuan/mt from the previous trading day; the average price of SX-EW copper was 104,900 yuan/mt, down 745 yuan/mt from the previous trading day.

Spot market: Guangdong inventory ended its 4-consecutive-day increase and resumed declining today, mainly due to reduced arrivals. Although both inventory and copper prices declined, end-user operating rates remained sluggish recently with persistently weak restocking appetite. Suppliers had no choice but to continue adjusting prices to facilitate shipments, causing spot premiums to keep falling today. The purchasing sentiment for copper cathode in Guangdong was 1.6 today, down 0.04 from the previous trading day; the shipments sentiment was 2.65, up 0.06 from the previous trading day (historical data available in the SMM database).

Overall, the pullback in copper prices still failed to boost consumption, and suppliers could only lower prices to facilitate shipments, causing spot premiums to pull back.