[Weak Spot Demand During the Week, Wider Spot Discounts]: This week, spot discounts in Ningbo widened, with the weekly average price down 20 yuan/mt WoW. As of Friday this week, spot prices in Ningbo against the 2604 contract were at a discount of 100 yuan/mt and at a premium of 20 yuan/mt against Shanghai, with the premium against Shanghai fluctuating during the week..

[SMM Shanghai Spot Copper] Looking ahead to next week, next Monday will be the last trading day of the SHFE copper 2603 contract. According to the SMM #1 copper cathode price assessment methodology, SMM always quotes against the front-month contract. The contango price spread between futures contracts narrowed slightly, and suppliers’ willingness to ship to delivery warehouses weakened somewhat, marginally loosening support for spot premiums. Meanwhile, import losses have narrowed substantially, and there are signs that the import window is about to open. If the window opens, it will bring in cargo from outside China, increasing pressure on spot supply in China and creating potential downward pressure on premiums. On the demand side, downstream enterprises maintained just-in-time procurement, providing some support for prices, but intraday, some downstream enterprises were seen to have limited acceptance of spot cargo with high premiums, with procurement turning more cautious. On the supply side, domestic copper and previously price-locked imported cargo continued to arrive, while social inventory remained high. As SMM always quotes against the front-month contract, the shift in the price spread between futures contracts is expected to result in high premiums against the front-month contract, though this is expected to be corrected on the second trading day. Overall, under the dominance of delivery logic, Shanghai spot copper premiums are expected to remain at elevated levels next Monday.

[Environmental Protection Measures in Northern China Weighed, Overall Trading Was Average This Week]: Spot premiums in Tianjin were flat WoW this week. As of this Friday, in China, standard domestic brands were quoted at discounts of around 50-100 yuan/mt against the 2604 contract, high-priced brands at discounts of around 30-60 yuan/mt against the 2604 contract, and Tianjin was quoted at a premium of around 10 yuan/mt against Shanghai.

Spot #1 copper cathode in North China was quoted at parity to a premium of 80 yuan/mt against the front-month contract today, with the average premium unchanged from the previous trading day at 40 yuan/mt, and the average transaction price down 155 yuan/mt from the previous trading day to 100,470 yuan/mt.

In North China today, spot #1 copper cathode was quoted at discounts of 20 yuan/mt to premiums of 100 yuan/mt against the front-month contract, with the average premium up 80 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The average transaction price was 100,625 yuan/mt, down 610 yuan/mt from the previous trading day.

[Spot Premiums Recovered Slowly, but the Center Was Expected to Move Lower Next Week] This week, premiums in Guangdong rose by about 30 yuan/mt WoW. As of this Friday, mainstream 0# zinc in Guangdong was quoted at a discount of 80 yuan/mt, and the Shanghai-Guangdong price spread widened......

SMM March 12 News: Today, Guangdong #1 copper cathode spot prices against the front-month contract: high-quality copper was quoted at 160 yuan/mt, unchanged from yesterday; standard-quality copper was quoted at a premium of 40 yuan/mt, unchanged from yesterday; SX-EW copper was quoted at a discount of 20 yuan/mt, unchanged from yesterday. The average price of Guangdong #1 copper cathode was 100,595 yuan/mt, down 265 yuan/mt from the previous trading day, and the average price of SX-EW copper was 100,475 yuan/mt, down 265 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. Spot market: Guangdong inventory had declined sharply for three consecutive days, mainly due to an increase in shipments. Current inventory had fallen by 10kt from the year-to-date high. Although inventory continued to fall today, traders and downstream buyers were markedly less active in restocking than yesterday; however, suppliers were unwilling to cut prices to sell, with significant disagreements between buyers and sellers, resulting in poor overall transactions. Today, purchasing sentiment for copper cathode in Guangdong was 2.4, down 0.11 from the previous trading day, and shipment sentiment was 3.3, down 0.27 from the previous trading day (historical data can be queried by logging into the database). Overall, traders and downstream buyers were markedly less active in restocking than yesterday, and spot premiums were unchanged from yesterday.

Silver prices fluctuated rangebound today, while spot market premiums still showed signs of continuing to decline, and downstream transactions were still mainly concluded through substantial bargaining. In Shanghai, mainstream quotations from suppliers of domestic standard silver ingots were tentatively quoted at premiums of 600-700 yuan/kg against TD, but due to increased supply, weakening downstream consumption, and substantial bargaining, actual transaction premiums fell to 500 yuan/kg. In Shenzhen, premiums of domestic standard small silver ingots against TD dropped to 400 yuan/kg, while premiums for large ingots declined to 300-400 yuan/kg. As suppliers increased sell-offs and shipped more cargo to the Shanghai market, transaction prices in Shanghai were slightly dragged lower as a result. Some downstream consumers suspended purchases after completing post-holiday restocking, and buyers still largely stayed on the sidelines today, continuing to buy the dip through substantial bargaining. Suppliers gradually ended their efforts to hold prices firm and withhold sales, and successively adjusted prices to make shipments, while spot market transactions remained relatively sluggish.

SMM Morning Meeting Summary: Overnight, LME copper opened at $13,044/mt. It touched a high of $13,063.5/mt in early trading, then the center moved lower to a low of $12,929/mt, and finally closed at $12,948.5/mt, down 0.77%. Trading volume came in at 17,000 lots, down 235 lots from the previous trading day; open interest stood at 304,000 lots, up 279 lots from the previous trading day, mainly reflecting an increase in bears' positions overall. Overnight, the most-traded SHFE copper 2604 contract opened at 101,240 yuan/mt. It touched a high of 101,240 yuan/mt at the open, then the center moved lower to a low of 100,560 yuan/mt, and finally closed at 100,860 yuan/mt, down 0.15%. Trading volume came in at 26,000 lots, down 62,000 lots from the previous trading day; open interest stood at 189,000 lots, down 3,320 lots from the previous trading day, mainly reflecting a reduction in bulls' positions overall.

[SMM Steel] India’s Jindal Steel secured the Rengalaberha North-East Extension and Nuagan West iron ore block in Odisha through a state auction, offering a 111.15% premium over the base price. The mine is estimated to hold around 38 million tonnes of reserves, including about 29 mt of high-grade iron ore with Fe content near 60%, while the overall average grade is 57.87% Fe.