Zhuochuang Information: Due to inconsistent policies and a continued market decline, trading in the recycled copper market remains average.

Recently, copper prices have dropped significantly, leading to a corresponding decline in scrap copper prices, with the daily decline expanding to 3,000 yuan/ton. As of March 23, the spot price of scrap copper is 83,000 yuan/ton, up 13.96% year-on-year but down 2.55% month-on-month. Due to the continuous price decline, the scrap price gap has continued to narrow. Market supply has fluctuated from abundant to scarce, and traders report that the volume is less than the same period last year. However, factory resumption rates are lower than in previous years, and overall production has decreased, so current scrap copper rod sales remain decent. As of now, policies are still unclear, and tax-included scrap copper cannot meet production needs. Some copper plants still use reverse procurement of raw materials for production, but output is lower than in previous years. It is expected that the market will continue to show regional differences in operation rates, with overall utilization remaining low. Based on macro risk-avoidance analysis, scrap copper prices are expected to remain weak next week. The operating range for refined copper is 81,500–83,500 yuan/ton, with an average price of 82,500 yuan/ton. (Zhuo Chuang Information)