SMM September 19:
Today, SMM #1 copper cathode spot prices against the SHFE front-month 2510 contract were quoted at parity to a premium of 140 yuan/mt, with the average premium at 70 yuan/mt, unchanged from the previous trading day. SMM #1 copper cathode prices ranged from 79,860 to 80,120 yuan/mt. In the morning session, the SHFE copper 2510 contract rose continuously from 79,700 yuan/mt to 79,980 yuan/mt and touched this level multiple times. The inter-month price spread ranged between BACK 10-30 yuan/mt.
Intraday purchasing and sales sentiment both declined. Domestic supply in the Shanghai region decreased compared to the beginning of the week, and the rebound in copper prices during the day weakened downstream procurement sentiment. The procurement sentiment for copper cathode in the Shanghai region was 3.14, and sales sentiment was 3.14. In the morning session, premiums for Peruvian and Lufang brands were 50-70 yuan/mt. Domestic brands in Jiangsu and Shanghai regions, such as Dajiang PC and Zhongtiaoshan PC, traded at parity to a premium of 30 yuan/mt. The center for SX-EW copper rose to a discount of 20 yuan/mt during the day. Non-registered brand prices continued to rise to around a discount of 70 yuan/mt.
Looking ahead to next week, copper prices returning to around 80,000 yuan/mt is expected to weaken market procurement sentiment. However, with the National Day holiday approaching, downstream stockpiling activities will support premiums, and transactions are expected to remain steady above parity.
