SHANGHAI, Aug. 23 (SMM) –Last week, the price gap between refined and scrap copper remained at RMB 1,000/mt. Copper futures fluctuated in a narrow range of USD 8,700-9,000/mt, but scrap copper prices held firm. Last week, offers for bare bright copper were mainly between RMB 60,000-60,600/mt, with low offers rarely seen in the market. After the narrowing price gap between scrap and refined copper, low-oxygen copper rods were negatively affected to some extent, as cable buyers more preferred to buy oxygen-free copper rods as raw materials. Furthermore, the price advantages of scrap copper were reduced, so copper semis processors all turned to refined copper as raw materials. Generally speaking, scrap copper transactions were quiet over the past week.