December 19, 2024: Today, warehouse warrant prices were $49-63/mt, QP January, with an average price up $1/mt from the previous trading day; B/L prices were $43-57/mt, QP January, with an average price up $2/mt from the previous trading day; EQ copper (CIF B/L) was $6-20/mt, QP January, with the average price unchanged from the previous trading day. The quotations referenced cargo arrivals in late December and early January.
During the day, the SHFE/LME price ratio for the SHFE copper 2501 contract was around +111 yuan/mt, LME copper 3M-Jan was at C$74.67/mt, and the 2501-month date to 2502-month date was around C$43/mt. The SHFE/LME price ratio showed little change from the previous trading day, and there was some profit margin for imports. However, in the US dollar copper market, traders were dissatisfied with buying prices and mostly took the opportunity to lock in the price ratio themselves to arrange imports, resulting in very few registered copper offers in the market. Additionally, there were sporadic warehouse warrant offers, but due to limited supply, the quotations were extremely high, which downstream buyers could not accept. Overall, market activity gradually weakened toward year-end.
Currently, pyro high-quality copper warehouse warrant prices are $63/mt, mainstream pyro $56/mt, and wet-process $49/mt; high-quality copper B/L prices are $57/mt, mainstream pyro around $50/mt, and wet-process $43/mt; CIF B/L EQ copper is $6-20/mt, with an average price of $13/mt.
