According to the investor relations activity record announced by Jintian Holdings on March 19 (March 10-12, 2026): 1. The Company’s 2025 earnings guidance and the reasons for the projected increase. Jintian Holdings replied: In 2025, the company implemented its “dual upgrade in products and clients” strategy, with product applications continuing to deepen in high-end fields; it stepped up expansion among clients outside China, and sales in markets outside China continued to grow; meanwhile, through digitalization initiatives, it improved operational and management efficiency, and the gross margin and profitability of its products improved YoY. The company expected net profit attributable to owners of the parent for 2025 to reach 700 million yuan to 800 million yuan, up 51.50%-73.14% YoY from the same period last year. 2. Progress of the company’s share repurchase. Jintian Holdings replied: From February 3, 2026 to February 28, 2026, the company had cumulatively repurchased 4,942,200 shares through centralized bidding, accounting for 0.29% of its current total share capital, with total funds paid of 56,676,944 yuan (excluding transaction costs). 3. The company’s industry position and competitive advantages. Jintian Holdings replied: The company had focused on the copper processing industry for 39 years and was one of the largest enterprises in China by scale and with the most complete industry chain. In 2024, the company achieved total production of 1.9162 million mt of copper and copper alloy materials, and its total production of copper semis ranked first globally. The company offered a wide range of copper products and could meet clients’ one-stop procurement needs for multiple categories of copper semis, including rods, tubes, plates and strips, and wires. Its copper products had been widely used in NEV, clean energy, communications technology, electrical power and equipment, chips and semiconductors, and other fields. At present, the company had developed a profound cultural heritage and outstanding organizational capability, with a significant market scale position and a global industrial footprint; it possessed leading manufacturing and R&D capabilities; it had built a specialized product matrix and formed a stable base of top-tier industry clients; and it had also established forward-looking green recycling technology barriers, laying a solid foundation for becoming a world-class base for copper products and advanced materials. 4. The capacity and business performance of the company’s rare earth permanent magnet products. Jintian Holdings replied: The company had entered the magnetic materials business in 2001. After more than 20 years of dedicated development, it had become one of the enterprises in China’s peer industry with relatively advanced technology and a well-developed product system. At present, the company had two magnetic material production sites in Ningbo and Baotou. Phase I of the Baotou site had commenced production, and the company’s annual capacity of rare earth permanent magnet materials had increased to 9,000 mt. The company was actively advancing the Phase II project at the Baotou site to further increase capacity to 13,000 mt. At the same time, through its newly established German subsidiary, the company accelerated its international expansion and increased its share in overseas markets. The company was among the first batch of enterprises to obtain a general export license for rare earth permanent magnet products, and it has continued to strengthen and advance export-related business. The company’s rare earth permanent magnet products are widely used in multiple high-end fields, including NEVs, wind power generation, high-efficiency energy-saving motors, robotics, consumer electronics, and medical devices. 5. The Company’s Business Development in the Chip Computing Power Sector. Jintian Co., Ltd. responded: With its outstanding electrical and thermal conductivity, copper has become a core material for advanced AI industry chip interconnects and heat dissipation in computing power facilities, and the transition of copper-based materials toward high value-added products has further accelerated. The company has a solid client base and technical reserves in the chip computing power sector, and it is also among the first companies globally to achieve large-scale supply of copper-based materials to leading enterprises in the above fields. Among them, the company’s high-precision special-shaped oxygen-free copper busbar products have been applied in multiple top-tier GPU cooling solutions of several global first-tier thermal module enterprises. Products independently developed by the company, such as copper heat pipes and liquid-cooling copper pipe & tube, have been supplied in batches for computing power server products of multiple top-tier enterprises. The company will closely monitor and follow market demand in the chip computing power sector, further improve its product portfolio, and enhance the competitive advantages of its products. 6. The Company’s Position Advantages and Business Achievements in the Secondary Copper Sector. Jintian Co., Ltd. responded: The company has continuously innovated new pathways for the green development of copper-based high-tech materials and has become one of the enterprises in China with the largest utilization of secondary copper and the highest comprehensive utilization rate. It is also one of the few companies in the global industry to achieve a closed-loop entire industry chain covering secondary copper recycling, purification, and deep processing. The company’s independently developed low-carbon secondary copper products significantly reduce carbon emissions while ensuring product performance, enabling it to provide downstream clients across the industry chain with high-quality, comprehensive one-stop green solutions for copper semis. In H1 2025, sales of the company’s green, high-end, low-carbon secondary copper products increased 61% YoY. Its product matrix now covers copper strip, copper wire, magnet wire, copper pipe & tube, copper busbar, copper billet, and more, and has been applied in fields such as high-end consumer electronics, the automotive industry, and electrical equipment. Specific applications include laptop cooling modules, mobile phone vibration motors, NEV power battery connections, and AC/DC power supplies. The products have achieved mass production in the products of multiple world-renowned clients, forming a new performance growth driver represented by “green low-carbon secondary copper products.” An investor asked on the investor interaction platform: Have the company’s copper billet products now become core supplies for top-tier enterprises such as DJI Innovation or EHang Intelligent?With the boom in the low-altitude economy’s payload flight market, have the company’s PEEK materials or high-strength copper alloys developed for drone motor bearings and airframe structural components seen explosive growth in orders? On March 19, Jintian Co., Ltd. stated on the investor interaction platform that the company had a solid client base and technical reserves in the low-altitude economy field. Among its products, high-precision free-cutting copper billet, with excellent properties such as high strength and wear resistance, had already been applied in airborne structural components of low-altitude aircraft. The company’s PEEK material products provide high-voltage drive stability technical solutions for the low-altitude economy’s payload flight market, and it had already carried out R&D cooperation with multiple top-tier enterprises in China. The company will closely monitor and follow market demand in the low-altitude economy field, further improve its product portfolio, and enhance its product competitive advantages. For specific related information, please refer to periodic reports. An investor asked on the investor interaction platform: Hello, Board Secretary. Recently, LME copper prices have risen sharply. Under the company’s strictly implemented hedging strategy, did this generate positive gains from closing positions during the reporting period, or was there a slight loss? Approximately how much was the amount? In addition, as the company’s revenue scale expanded, how well did net operating cash flow match net profit in 2025? Was there any cash flow strain caused by prepayments for raw material procurement? On March 19, Jintian Co., Ltd. stated on the investor interaction platform that the company’s copper processing products adopted a pricing model of “raw material prices + processing fee” and carried out hedging operations in strict accordance with the Hedging Management System to reduce the impact of raw material price fluctuations on the company’s net profit. At present, fluctuations in copper prices had a relatively small impact on the company’s operating performance. For specific related information, please refer to periodic reports. On March 18, when responding to investor questions on the interaction platform, Jintian Co., Ltd. stated that the company had continued to expand its technological leadership in high-voltage electromagnetic flat wire and had further advanced cooperation on new energy high-voltage electromagnetic flat wire projects with world-class OEMs and motor suppliers. As of H1 2025, the company had secured 23 new nominations for its 800V high-voltage platform for new energy drive motors, and had already achieved bulk supply for multiple projects, with the shipment share of high-voltage flat wire continuing to increase. For specific related information, please refer to periodic reports. On March 17, when responding to investor questions on the interaction platform, Jintian Co., Ltd. stated that, with its outstanding electrical and thermal conductivity, copper had become a core material for chip interconnection in the advanced AI industry and heat dissipation in computing power facilities. The company had a solid client base and technical reserves in the AI computing power field. Among its products, the company’s high-precision shaped oxygen-free copper busbar products had already been applied in multiple top-tier GPU cooling solutions of several first-tier thermal module enterprises worldwide. The company will closely monitor and follow market demand in the AI computing power sector, further improve its product portfolio, and enhance its competitive edge. For specific information, please refer to the periodic reports. On March 17, Jintian Co., Ltd. said in response to investor questions on an interactive platform that the company continued to expand its technological leadership in the high-voltage electromagnetic flat wire industry, with both the number of designated projects on high-voltage platforms and shipment volume continuing to grow. Among them, the company's 1,000V flat wire products for drive motors have become an industry benchmark as supporting materials for "megawatt flash charging" technology in the NEV sector, while client-related certification for 1,200V flat wire for drive motors was also progressing in an orderly manner. In addition, the company had a solid client base and sound technical reserves in the chip and semiconductor sector. The company will closely monitor and follow market demand in the chip and semiconductor sector, further improve its product portfolio, and enhance its competitive edge. For specific information, please refer to the periodic reports. On March 17, Jintian Co., Ltd. said in response to investor questions on an interactive platform that the company remained committed to advancing its internationalization strategy, and construction of its newly built Thailand production site was progressing smoothly. The company's copper semis products exported outside China had an overall relatively high gross margin. In H1 2025, revenue from its principal operations outside China was up 21.86% YoY and continued to maintain a solid growth trend. The steady growth of business outside China laid a solid foundation for the company to deepen the upgrading of its global product and client mix. For specific information, please refer to the periodic reports. Jintian Co., Ltd.'s 2025 earnings forecast showed that, based on preliminary estimates by its finance department, the company expected net profit attributable to owners of the parent for 2025 to reach 700 million to 800 million yuan, representing an increase of 237.9574 million to 337.9574 million yuan from the same period last year (statutorily disclosed data), up 51.50% to 73.14% YoY. Net profit attributable to owners of the parent excluding non-recurring gains and losses for 2025 was expected to reach 440 million to 528 million yuan, representing an increase of 101.4004 million to 189.4004 million yuan from the same period last year (statutorily disclosed data), up 29.95% to 55.94% YoY. Regarding the main reasons for the expected increase in results for the period, Jintian Co., Ltd. stated: In 2025, the company implemented its "dual upgrade of products and clients" strategy, with product applications in high-end fields continuing to deepen; it stepped up expansion among clients outside China, and sales in markets outside China continued to grow; meanwhile, through digitalization initiatives, it improved operating and management efficiency, and its product gross margin level and profitability improved YoY. On January 23, Jintian Co., Ltd. said in response to investor questions on an interactive platform that Phase I of its Baotou base had been put into operation, and the annual capacity of rare earth permanent magnets had been increased to 9,000 mt. The company is currently actively advancing Phase II of the Baotou base project, with the aim of further increasing capacity to 13,000 mt. The company has a solid client base and technical reserves in the robotics field, and some rare earth permanent magnets have already been applied in the robotics sector. The company will closely monitor and follow market demand in the robotics field, further improve its product portfolio, and enhance its product competitiveness. A performance preview commentary on Jintian Co., Ltd. for 2025 released by Aijian Securities showed that the share repurchase demonstrated confidence in long-term development, while capital structure optimization was advancing steadily. The company’s high-end copper-based materials were being introduced at an accelerated pace to clients outside China in the computing power cooling sector, with sales rising rapidly and profitability improving significantly. 1) In terms of profitability, processing fees for copper busbar used in computing power are relatively high, and product mix upgrades are expected to continue lifting the company’s gross margin level; 2) In terms of shipment progress, in H1 2025, sales of the company’s copper busbar products in the cooling sector increased 72% YoY, and its high-precision profiled oxygen-free copper busbar has entered GPU cooling solutions of multiple global first-tier cooling module enterprises. The company’s copper heat pipes, liquid-cooling copper pipe & tube, and other products have also achieved bulk supply in computing servers of multiple top-tier enterprises. Copper prices fluctuations had a limited impact on the company’s profitability. 1) The company adopts a “copper prices + processing fee” pricing model, with revenue and profit primarily derived from processing fees rather than copper prices themselves. Processing fees are negotiated between the company and clients based on factors such as product specifications and process complexity, and show a certain degree of historical stickiness; 2) The company effectively hedges copper prices through hedging, while fluctuations in upstream raw material prices are mainly borne by downstream customers, resulting in a relatively small impact on the company’s profit; 3) Rapid copper prices fluctuations may affect downstream ordering willingness in phases and lengthen order cycles, but copper application scenarios are characterized by rigid demand, so the impact on total demand is limited, only changing the pace of copper product orders, and the company’s overall operating stability remains strong. The company is actively expanding into the “aluminum as an substitute for copper” direction, with material substitution optimizing the gross profit structure while enhancing its ability to hedge against copper prices fluctuations. 1) On a per-mt basis, the absolute value of processing fees for aluminum products is usually lower than that of copper-based solutions (at the same performance level, processing fees for high-precision aluminum extrusion are about 10,000 yuan/mt, versus about 20,000 yuan/mt for copper semis); however, since the per-mt price of aluminum semis is significantly lower than that of copper, usually about one-fourth of the latter, the material cost base is lower, increasing the share of processing fees in total product value. The corresponding processing fee rate of aluminum-based solutions is about 13–14 pct higher than that of copper-based solutions, providing positive support to the company’s overall gross margin; 2) In terms of supply progress, the company’s electromagnetic flat aluminum wire and aluminum 3D bent busbars for vehicles have entered the certification and mass supply stage, while inner-grooved aluminum pipe & tube for air conditioners has already begun small-batch supply. Risk Warning: Risks of lower-than-expected downstream demand for new energy or capacity release, rising copper prices, and changes in trade policies outside China.

SMM Morning Meeting Minutes: LME copper opened at $12,965/mt overnight, hitting an early high of $13,000/mt before its price center declined and touched a low of $12,783/mt, then maintained a "W" pattern, ultimately closing at $12,855/mt, down 1.42%. Trading volume reached 30,000 lots, an increase of 3,970 lots from the previous session; open interest stood at 324,000 lots, a decrease of 8,112 lots from the previous session, reflecting an overall reduction in long positions. The most-traded SHFE copper 2603 contract opened at 100,430 yuan/mt overnight, touching an early low of 98,550 yuan/mt before its center fluctuated upward to a high of 101,400 yuan/mt, ultimately closing at 101,130 yuan/mt, down 1.34%. Trading volume reached 105,000 lots, a decrease of 181,000 lots from the previous session; open interest stood at 179,000 lots, a decrease of 3,493 lots from the previous session, reflecting an overall reduction in long positions.

SMM Morning Meeting Summary: Overnight, LME copper opened at $9,604.5/mt, fluctuated considerably to reach an intraday low before surging straight up to a high of $9,636.5/mt. It then fluctuated downward, touching a bottom of $9,578/mt near the close, and ultimately closed at $9,615/mt, marking a 1.24% increase. Trading volume reached 15,000 lots, and open interest reached 286,000 lots. Overnight, SHFE copper was closed.

》Check SMM copper quotes, data, and market analysis 》Subscribe to view historical price trends of SMM metal spot cargo SMM May 30 At 11:30 today, the futures closing price was 78,100 yuan/mt, down 150 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The average spot premiums/discounts were 170 yuan/mt, up 20 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. Today, the price of secondary copper raw material dropped 300 yuan/mt MoM. The price of bare bright copper in Guangdong was 72,400-72,600 yuan/mt, down 300 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The price difference between copper cathode and copper scrap was 1,142 yuan/mt, up 189 yuan/mt MoM. The price difference between copper cathode rod and secondary copper rod was 1,115 yuan/mt. According to the SMM survey, secondary copper raw material import traders indicated that COMEX copper prices pulled back this week, so the absolute value of the discount for secondary copper raw material in the US decreased. However, LME copper prices only dropped slightly, so the discount coefficient quoted by local suppliers did not change. In Europe, the local supply of secondary copper raw material remained tight this week, so prices did not pull back.

SMM Morning Meeting Summary: Overnight, LME copper opened at $9,583.0/mt, hitting a low of $9,571.0/mt at the beginning of the session before rising steadily. It reached a high of $9,640.0/mt during the session, then fluctuated downward overall, eventually closing at $9,596.0/mt, down 0.19%. Trading volume was 15,828 lots, and open interest was 289,893 lots. Overnight, the most-traded SHFE copper 2507 contract opened at 78,160 yuan/mt, with prices fluctuating at the beginning of the session. It reached a high of 78,240 yuan/mt and a low of 78,020 yuan/mt during the session, fluctuating overall before eventually closing at 78,100 yuan/mt, up 0.14%. Trading volume was 27,541 lots, and open interest was 164,859 lots.

SMM Morning Meeting Summary: LME copper was closed overnight. The SHFE copper 2507 contract opened at 77,740 yuan/mt overnight, reaching a high of 78,340 yuan/mt and a low of 77,710 yuan/mt during the session. The closing price was 78,150 yuan/mt. The overall trend fluctuated upward. The price increase was 0.31%, with a trading volume of 26,894 lots and an open interest of 157,842 lots.

SMM Morning Meeting Summary: Overnight, LME copper opened at $9,570.5/mt. After initial fluctuations, it trended lower, hitting a low of $9,478.0/mt during the session. It then fluctuated upward, reaching a high of $9,630.0/mt near the close, and ultimately closed at $9,614.0/mt, up 0.99%. Trading volume was 19,904 lots, and open interest was 287,484 lots. Overnight, the SHFE copper 2506 contract opened lower at 77,680 yuan/mt. After initial fluctuations, it fluctuated upward, hitting a high of 78,480 yuan/mt during the session, and ultimately closed at 78,390 yuan/mt, up 0.72%. Trading volume was 29,488 lots, and open interest was 151,158 lots, with a daily increase in open interest of -1,247 lots and a daily change rate in open interest of -0.82%.

》[Live] Research and Analysis on Macroeconomy, Electric Power, Infrastructure, Real Estate, and PV Markets; Outlook on Copper and Aluminum Prices; Insights into Cable Technology Trends SMM News on May 22: Metal Market: As of the daytime close, domestic market base metals generally declined, with only SHFE lead rising, up 0.48%. SHFE nickel fell 0.7%, SHFE tin dropped 0.48%, and the rest of the metals saw slight declines, with alumina falling 2.01%. In addition, the main lithium carbonate contract fell 1.65%, the main polysilicon contract rose 1.09%, the main silicon metal contract increased 0.25%, and the main European container shipping contract surged 2.73%. The ferrous metals series generally declined, with iron ore falling 1.24%, HRC dropping 0.75%, and rebar decreasing 0.42%. In the coking coal and coke sector, coking coal fell 4.01%, and coke dropped 1.81%. In the overseas market, as of 15:03, overseas market base metals generally rose, with only LME copper falling 0.04%. LME lead increased 0.76%, LME tin rose 0.52%, and LME aluminum gained 0.22%, with the rest of the metals seeing slight fluctuations in their increases. In precious metals, as of 15:03, COMEX gold rose 1.04%, and COMEX silver increased 0.35%. Domestically, SHFE gold rose 0.1%, and SHFE silver fell 0.37%. According to Jordan Roy-Byrne, author of CMT, MFTA, and the book "Gold and Silver: The Greatest Bull Market Has Begun," gold is in the early stages of a strong, long-term bull market, with its price potentially rising to $4,500, while silver prices may also exceed $100. Market conditions as of 15:03 today 》Click to view SMM Market Dashboard Macro Front Domestic Aspects: [Ministry of Commerce: Online Sales of Digital Products Increased by 8.4% from January to April, with Smart Robots and Smart Home Systems Rising by 87.6% and 16%] The head of the E-commerce Department of the Ministry of Commerce introduced the development of China's e-commerce from January to April 2025. Digital consumption growth accelerated, with online sales of digital products increasing by 8.4% according to e-commerce big data monitoring, among which smart robots and smart home systems rose by 87.6% and 16%, respectively. Products under the trade-in policy grew rapidly, with online sales of 15 categories of home appliances and digital products increasing by 11.5%, among which three expanded categories of digital products, including mobile phones, rose by 18.5%. Service consumption led the growth, driven by factors such as policy efforts, supply optimization, and holiday economy, with key monitored online service consumption increasing by 12.1%, among which online entertainment and online tourism rose by 31.9% and 25.4%, respectively. [The People's Bank of China Net Injected 36 Billion Yuan in the Open Market] The People's Bank of China conducted 142.5 billion yuan of 7-day reverse repo operations today, with an operating interest rate of 1.40%, unchanged from the previous rate. As 106.5 billion yuan of 7-day reverse repo operations matured today, a net injection of 36 billion yuan was achieved. ► The central parity rate of the RMB against the US dollar in the inter-bank foreign exchange market on May 23 was 7.1919 yuan per US dollar. US dollar: As of 15:03, the US dollar index fell by 0.3%. The number of initial jobless claims in the US for the week ending May 17 was 227,000, compared to market expectations of 230,000 and 229,000 the previous week. The number of initial jobless claims in the US fell by 2,000 last week to a four-week low, indicating that the job market remains healthy despite uncertainties brought about by trade policies. However, the number of continuing claims rose, making it increasingly difficult for the unemployed to find new jobs. The US manufacturing PMI rose to a three-month high of 52.3 in May. The flash services PMI stood at 52.3, hitting a two-month high. The index for new orders from enterprises rose to 52.4 from 51.7 in April, mainly driven by the manufacturing sector. The index measuring the prices paid by enterprises for inputs rose to 63.4 from 58.5 in April, reaching its highest level since November 2022. Federal Reserve Governor Waller stated that the Fed would not purchase bonds in primary auctions, as hard data indicated that the economy was performing quite well and had not yet shown clear signs of tariff impacts. Waller still believed that tariffs would lead to one-time price increases, and said that if tariffs were lowered, the Fed was expected to cut interest rates in the second half of 2025. (Wenhua Comprehensive) Macro: Today, data such as the revised quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted GDP growth rate for Germany in Q1, the revised year-on-year non-seasonally adjusted GDP growth rate for Germany in Q1, the month-on-month seasonally adjusted retail sales growth rate for the UK in April, the month-on-month seasonally adjusted core retail sales growth rate for the UK in April, the revised month-on-month building permits growth rate for the US in April, the revised annualized total building permits for the US in April, the month-on-month retail sales growth rate for Canada in March, the month-on-month core retail sales growth rate for Canada in March, and the annualized total of seasonally adjusted new home sales for the US in April will be released. In addition, it is worth noting that FOMC permanent voter and New York Fed President Williams will deliver a keynote speech at a seminar on monetary policy implementation; FOMC voters for 2025, St. Louis Fed President Musalem and Kansas City Fed President Schmid, will participate in a fireside chat in Northwest Arkansas hosted by the St. Louis Fed to discuss the economy and monetary policy. Crude oil: As of 15:03, oil prices in both markets fell simultaneously, with US crude oil down by 0.82% and Brent crude oil down by 0.79%. OPEC's production policy moves remain the core variable driving oil price trends. At this stage, OPEC member countries are discussing whether to agree to another round of oversized production increases at the June 1 meeting, which could be the third consecutive month that the organization adds extra oil production to the market. Delegates stated that a 411,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) increase in daily production in July was one of the options under discussion, but no final agreement had been reached. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia indicated that an oil price of $60 per barrel was sustainable. If production is further increased, it could signal a clearer intention by OPEC to compete for market share. At a recent meeting, Saudi Arabia, as the leader of OPEC+, warned non-compliant member countries such as Kazakhstan and Iraq that if they did not adhere to their quotas, Saudi Arabia might further increase production. Despite Kazakhstan's commitment to make some compensatory measures, the country has not taken substantive steps to restrict international oil companies operating within its borders, and its exports remain near record highs. If major oil-producing countries like Saudi Arabia push for a larger-scale production increase plan, it could trigger a new round of downward pressure on the crude oil market. (Wenhua Comprehensive) SMM Daily Review ► Concerns about the continuous decline in LME copper prices prompt import traders to slightly increase shipments [SMM Secondary Copper Daily Review] ► Aluminum prices rebound slightly, and the secondary aluminum market operates steadily [ADC12 Price Daily Review] ► [SMM Nickel Sulphate Daily Review] On May 23, nickel salt prices remained stable ► [SMM MHP Daily Review] On May 23, Indonesian MHP prices slightly declined ► Silver prices consolidate, with downstream cautious and trading remaining light [SMM Daily Review]

》Check SMM copper quotes, data, and market analysis 》Subscribe to view historical price trends of SMM metal spot cargo SMM May 23 At 11:30 today, the futures closing price was 77,830 yuan/mt, down 150 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The average spot premiums/discounts were 165 yuan/mt, up 30 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. Today, the price of secondary copper raw material remained unchanged MoM. The price of bare bright copper in Guangdong was 72,400-72,600 yuan/mt, unchanged from the previous trading day. The price difference between copper cathode and copper scrap was 867 yuan/mt, down 120 yuan/mt MoM. The price difference between copper cathode rod and secondary copper rod was 945 yuan/mt. According to the SMM survey, an importer of secondary copper raw material in Ningbo said that the supply of secondary raw materials increased slightly this week. As LME copper prices pulled back below 9,600 yuan/mt during the week, many suppliers were concerned about the expansion of losses due to price declines, so they slightly increased their shipments this week. In addition, regarding the entry of US copper scrap into China through transshipment or exchange, traders said they had not heard any related news for the time being. It is expected that the import data of secondary copper raw material from the US will show a significant pullback starting from the May data.

In April, copper prices continued to rise, filling the gap, with long and short funds increasing positions near the resistance level, and short positions increasing to defend the resistance level. As copper prices rose, the domestic most-traded contract shifted from short to long, maintaining a small long exposure; international financial and industrial capital reduced both long and short positions, slightly shrinking the exposure scale. Market bullish sentiment recovered, and the options market predicted that copper prices in May would operate within the range of 70,000 yuan to 80,000 yuan/mt. Long and short positions increased fiercely, with short positions increasing to defend the resistance level. On the SHFE copper futures market, on April 7, longs accelerated their exit, and copper prices hit the lower limit at 73,640 yuan/mt; in mid-April, shorts took profits and longs increased positions, driving copper prices to rebound sharply, approaching the resistance range of 78,500 yuan to 79,500 yuan/mt; in late April, long and short funds increased positions near the resistance level, with shorts increasing positions to drive down prices. On the LME copper futures market, in April, shorts increased positions, driving prices down to a low of 8,105 $/mt, after which some shorts took profits and exited, driving copper prices to rebound to the resistance level of 9,500 $/mt, with long and short positions showing fierce increases. On April 30, the SHFE copper closing price was 77,220 yuan/mt, down 3.4% from 79,950 yuan/mt in the same period in March; the LME copper closing price was 9,125 $/mt, down 6% from 9,710 $/mt in the same period in March. Domestic most-traded contracts shifted from short to long, while international financial and industrial capital reduced both long and short positions. On April 30, the top 20 futures companies in SHFE copper held a net long position of 5,316 lots, compared to a net short position of 4,496 lots in the same period in April, with domestic most-traded contracts shifting from short to long, and the reduction of short positions by domestic most-traded contracts being an important force driving copper prices higher. On May 2, LME copper commercial institutions (including producers, traders, processors, users, and other industrial clients) held a net short position of 60,001 lots, narrowing the short exposure by 4,895 lots compared to the same period in April, while investment funds held a net long exposure of 31,505 lots, narrowing the long exposure by 10,072 lots compared to the same period last month. Market speculation risk is at a medium level. On April 30, the open interest of the most-traded SHFE copper contract was 169,000 lots, and the copper inventory in SHFE designated delivery warehouses was 89,000 mt, with the ratio of open interest to delivery warehouse inventory at 9.4, at a medium-high level; the open interest of LME 3-month copper was 287,000 lots, with inventory at 200,000 mt, and the average monthly deliverable production at 1.41 million mt, with the ratio of open interest to the sum of exchange inventory and production in the next three months at 1.6. Considering comprehensively, LME copper open interest is at a low level, inventory is relatively abundant, and market speculation risk is at a medium level. Copper prices are at a medium-high position within the long-term price range. The long-term operating range of SHFE copper futures prices is 41,000 yuan to 89,000 yuan/mt, and the long-term operating range of LME copper futures prices is 5,100 $ to 11,100 $/mt. On April 30, the closing price of the most-traded SHFE copper contract was 77,220 yuan/mt, positioned at the 75th percentile of its long-term price range. The closing price of LME copper futures was $9,125/mt, positioned at the 67th percentile of its long-term price range. Copper prices continued to rise, filling the gap. In mid-April, copper prices rebounded sharply and continued to climb, with SHFE copper prices reaching the upper end of the 71,000-79,500 yuan/mt range, essentially filling the previous gap. In the short term, there was intense competition between bullish and bearish capital, causing copper prices to fluctuate rangebound within the 76,500-78,500 yuan/mt range. LME copper prices fell rapidly, breaking below the lower end of the 8,700-dollar/mt oscillation range. After finding support near $8,100/mt, prices rebounded strongly, returning to around $9,500/mt. LME copper backwardation persisted between far-month and near-month contracts. Recently, spot resources have gradually tightened from a previously loose state. On April 30, the most-traded SHFE copper far-month contract was trading at a backwardation of 2.6% compared to the near-month contract. The LME copper far-month contract was trading at a premium of $6.8/mt over the near-month contract, indicating parity. The LME copper Cash/3M spread was at a premium of $55.16/mt, up $50.11/mt from the same period in March, reflecting a gradual tightening of spot resources in the near term. Market bullish sentiment has recovered somewhat. The options market expects copper prices to mainly operate within the 70,000-80,000 yuan/mt range in May. After a sharp rise to historical highs in April, the implied volatility of SHFE copper options quickly pulled back, maintaining a level slightly above the midpoint of the past six months. On April 28, the implied volatility of SHFE copper options closed at 23.33%, with the market expecting a high probability of copper prices remaining rangebound. From the perspective of the strike price with the highest open interest in SHFE copper options, on April 28, the strike price with the highest open interest for Cu2506 put options fell sharply to 70,000 yuan/mt, with an option premium of 276 yuan/mt. The strike price with the highest open interest for call options was 80,000 yuan/mt, with an option premium of 628 yuan/mt. The market expects copper prices to mainly operate within the 70,000-80,000 yuan/mt range in May. In terms of options open interest, on April 28, put open interest was 36,975 lots, a decrease of 4,117 lots from the same period in March. Call open interest was 31,230 lots, a decrease of 9,754 lots from the same period in March. The Put-Call Ratio (PCR) of open interest closed at 1.18, an increase of 0.18 from the same period in March, reflecting an increase in bullish sentiment in the SHFE copper market. (Author's Affiliation: China Metal Mining Economics Institute)