SMM August 13 At 11:30 today, the futures closing price was 108,300 yuan/mt, down 380 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The average spot premium was 145 yuan/mt, down 140 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. Today, copper scrap prices remained unchanged day-on-day. The copper scrap sales sentiment index was flat at 2.712, and the purchase sentiment index was flat at 1.83. The price difference between copper cathode and copper scrap was 4,596 yuan/mt, down 281 yuan/mt day-on-day. The price difference between copper cathode rod and secondary copper rod was 1,670 yuan/mt. According to the SMM survey, the front-month futures contract neared delivery, and the price spread between futures contracts widened to 800 yuan/mt. Although scrap utilization enterprises shifted their pricing to the September contract, given the clear downtrend in forward contracts, their purchase willingness was mediocre. Meanwhile, suppliers' offers for copper scrap were unchanged from yesterday, and overall market transactions were mediocre.

SMM Morning Meeting Minutes: Overnight, LME copper opened at $14,230/mt, drifted higher early in the session to touch a high of $14,262/mt, then the copper price center shifted straight down, dipping to $14,096.5/mt near the end of the session, and finally closed at $14,109.5/mt, down 0.31%. Trading volume reached 16,900 lots, while open interest reached 263,000 lots, up 1,892 lots from the previous trading day, reflecting an increase in short positions. Overnight, the most-traded SHFE copper 2609 contract opened at 108,610 yuan/mt, immediately touched a high of 109,730 yuan/mt early in the session, then the copper price center drifted lower, dipping to 107,730 yuan/mt near the end of the session, and finally closed at 107,780 yuan/mt, down 0.36%. Trading volume reached 34,000 lots, while open interest reached 212,000 lots, down 2,364 lots from the previous trading day, reflecting a decrease in long positions.

SMM August 12 At 11:30 today, the futures closing price was 108,680 yuan/mt, up 60 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The average spot premiums were -5 yuan/mt, down 65 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. Today, the copper scrap price rose 100 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The copper scrap sales sentiment index fell to 2.72, and the purchasing sentiment index fell to 1.83. The price difference between copper cathode and copper scrap was 5,116 yuan/mt, down 118 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The price difference between copper cathode rod and secondary copper rod was 2,000 yuan/mt. According to the SMM survey, tax-included supply became increasingly tight. According to feedback from copper scrap traders, the invoice tax rate for copper scrap has reached 12%. The increase in invoice costs has forced more and more scrap utilization enterprises to lower the copper scrap price. Therefore, the price difference between copper cathode and copper scrap has been widening recently, with the rising invoice cost being one of the main reasons.

SMM August 11 At 11:30 today, the futures closing price was 108,620 yuan/mt, up 850 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The average spot premium was 60 yuan/mt, down 20 yuan/mt MoM from the previous trading day. The price of copper scrap remained flat MoM. The copper scrap sales sentiment index rose to 2.77, while the purchase sentiment index fell to 1.86. The price spread between copper cathode and copper scrap was 5,234 yuan/mt, up 830 yuan/mt MoM. The price difference between copper cathode rod and secondary copper rod was 2,080 yuan/mt. According to the SMM survey, copper prices shot up again, and scrap utilization enterprises have been continuously purchasing copper scrap from the market in the past two weeks, resulting in ample raw material inventory. Given the current high copper prices, their purchase willingness was very weak.

[SMM Analysis: U.S. Restricts Critical Mineral Scrap Exports — Could Copper Scrap Be Next?]The U.S. has imposed a 100% domestic sales requirement on black mass and tungsten scrap, signaling tighter control over strategic secondary resources. Copper scrap is not yet included, but SMM expects more high-grade scrap to stay in the U.S. as local processing capacity expands, tightening global supply and supporting high scrap coefficients.

SMM Morning Meeting Minutes: Overnight, LME copper opened at $14,122.5/mt, drifted lower in early trading to touch a low of $14,069/mt, then the price center gradually moved up to test $14,177/mt, and subsequently drifted lower again to close at $14,120/mt, up 0.7%, with trading volume of 15,000 lots and open interest of 259,000 lots, an increase of 1,164 lots from the previous session, represented by bulls adding positions. Overnight, the most-traded SHFE copper 2609 contract opened at 107,850 yuan/mt, drifted lower in early trading to test 107,450 yuan/mt, then the price center moved up sharply to touch 108,060 yuan/mt, and finally closed at 107,790 yuan/mt, up 0.16%, with trading volume of 27,400 lots and open interest of 212,000 lots, a decrease of 2,287 lots from the previous session, represented by bears reducing positions.