On June 5, copper prices dropped in futures markets, but slightly increased in China's spot market. U.S. non-farm payrolls for May significantly exceeded expectations, reinforcing market bets on interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and exerting downward pressure on copper prices from a macroeconomic perspective.
Mysteel's 25% clean copper concentrate treatment charge (TC) index stood at -$115.3/dmt on June 5, continuously falling week on week. Traders and smelters became increasingly divergent over acceptable TC levels, with extreme copper concentrate supply tightness persisting. Under significantly compressed profits and raw material supply shortages, China's copper smelters face risks of production cuts.
China's refined copper spot trading saw limited growth on June 5, due to downstream enterprises' stockpiling ahead of the weekend. Spot premiums generally rose across major markets in China, and are expected to continue increasing as holders will raise prices amid spot supply tightness and the approaching contract rollover.
Trading in China's copper semis markets experienced limited changes on June 5, as end-user demand saw no notable recovery and market participants stayed generally cautious amid frequently fluctuating copper prices. However, demand growth expectations remain, supported by rising sectors such as artificial intelligence and new energy vehicles.
