Affected by sharply surging copper prices, end-user purchasing was weak, and trading in the spot copper cathode market in Shandong was sluggish today.

[Tianjin Zinc: High Zinc Prices, Market Quiet] In the Tianjin market, #0 zinc ingot mainstream transactions were at 25,460-25,680 yuan/mt, Zijin transactions were at 25,580-25,750 yuan/mt, #1 zinc ingot transactions were near 25,460-25,590 yuan/mt. Zijin was quoted at a premium of 0-50 yuan/mt against the 2609 contract, Huzinc was quoted at 26,940 yuan/mt, and #0 zinc ingot was quoted at a discount of 20-120 yuan/mt against the 2609 contract. Tianjin market was quoted at a discount of 90 yuan/mt against Shanghai market.

SMM learned that a data center in South China has deployed 32 units of RTX 5090 server rental resources, with a monthly rental price of 11,500 yuan per unit, a lease term starting from six months, supporting individual unit rental, and an additional 1,000 yuan per month per unit when paired with a RoCE networking solution. This batch of resources has been on the market for three days. SMM believes that the split-rental model lowers the entry barrier for buyers; a half-year short-term contract offers high flexibility, making it suitable for short-term flexible demand; however, splitting rentals and using short-term contracts may increase the per-unit cost, and lessees need to comprehensively compare whole-unit rental plans.

SMM learned that a data center in Zhejiang has released one NVIDIA H100 server rental resource, with a monthly rent of 76,000 yuan, expected to be delivered on August 16. This resource is a spot order for a single unit, and the lessor offered favorable pricing to avoid vacancy pressure. SMM believes that a single-unit resource has high price negotiation flexibility, suitable for those with stable demand to lock in long-term low prices, but attention must be paid to performance and equipment maintenance clauses under long-term leases.

This week, spot premiums for copper cathode in Shandong pulled back significantly. As of Thursday, spot was reported at a discount of 110 yuan/mt, with the market quickly shifting from premium to discount, marking a steep decline. Affected by the sharp surge in copper prices, procurement by downstream end-users was sluggish. Suppliers proactively cut prices to facilitate transactions, and offers in the market diverged notably, with the spread between high and low prices widening. Smelters in the province completed maintenance and resumed production, and some suppliers showed strong willingness to sell, choosing to quickly cut prices to move goods; however, other suppliers with tight spot supply prioritized long-term contract deliveries and were reluctant to sell spot orders or offer significant discounts. Overall, the regional market exhibited an oversupply condition, with the continuously surging copper prices suppressing downstream purchase willingness to near freezing. Looking ahead to next week, if copper prices stay high, demand will be hard to improve, and there is still further downside room for spot premiums in Shandong.

SMM, August 6: In Guangdong, spot #1 copper cathode against the front-month contract: high-quality copper was quoted at a premium of 90 yuan/mt, down 20 yuan/mt from the previous trading day; standard-quality copper was quoted at a premium of 10 yuan/mt, down 20 yuan/mt; and SX-EW copper was quoted at a discount of 50 yuan/mt, down 20 yuan/mt. The average price of #1 copper cathode in Guangdong was 107,900 yuan/mt, up 910 yuan/mt from the previous trading day, while the average price of SX-EW copper was 107,820 yuan/mt, up 930 yuan/mt. Spot market: Guangdong inventory increased again, mainly due to higher arrivals and weaker consumption. Copper prices continued to rise and hit a recent high, so downstream enterprises purchased cautiously, and suppliers had to keep lowering prices to sell, but transactions remained sluggish. In Guangdong, the electrolytic copper purchase sentiment index was 2.30, down 0.1 from the previous trading day, and the shipment sentiment index was 2.83, up 0.02 (historical data can be accessed via the database query). Overall, with copper prices hitting a recent high, downstream buyers were unwilling to purchase, and suppliers had to cut prices to sell, resulting in lackluster trading.

Today, spot #1 copper cathode in North China against the front-month contract was quoted at a discount of 100-30 yuan/mt, with an average discount of 65 yuan/mt, a decrease of 60 yuan/mt from the previous trading day; the average transaction price was 107,915 yuan/mt, an increase of 825 yuan/mt from the previous trading day;

[SMM Daily Review: Weaker ADP Data Boosts Silver Prices; Spot Demand and Trading Sluggish] SMM, August 6 – The US ADP employment hit a new low for the year, expectations for interest rate cuts intensified, and silver prices rebounded. Spot market silver prices rose, suppressing purchase willingness. Transactions were concentrated near parity, and demand remained sluggish.

[SMM Precious Metal Express] US July ADP employment came in at 44,000, below the expected 70,000 and prior 95,000, marking the smallest gain since January. Weaker jobs data reinforced Fed rate-cut expectations, sending spot gold up over $200 from its session low at one point, closing 4.16% higher at $4,247.02/oz — its largest single-day gain since early February. Spot silver climbed above $62/oz, closing up 4.26% at $62.06/oz.

US mineral royalty company Natural Resource Partners L.P. (NRP) reported second-quarter 2026 net income of US$25.176 million, operating cash flow of US$40.950 million and free cash flow of US$41.723 million. The company also declared a cash distribution of US$0.75 per common unit. Revenue from NRP’s mineral rights business increased by US$6.1 million year on year, mainly driven by higher metallurgical and thermal coal sales volumes, as well as stronger coal prices at certain properties. Metallurgical coal accounted for approximately 70% of coal royalty revenue and around 45% of royalty coal sales volumes. However, the company said low natural gas prices, high coal inventories at power plants and weak global steel demand continued to weigh on its coal business.