SMM Daily Review - 2011/9/6 Copper Market

SHANGHAI, Sept. 7 (SMM) –SHFE 1111 copper contract prices, the most active one, opened down RMB 400/mt at RMB 67,100/mt on Tuesday. Since LME copper prices fell below USD 8,900/mt after breaking through USD 9,000/mt on the previous trading day, SHFE three-month copper contract prices moved lower during the major trading hours following fluctuations due to pressures, but the decline eased after touching the RMB 66,400/mt mark, with a low of RMB 66,330/mt. At the tail of trading, SHFE three-month copper contract prices gradually narrowed daily declines after LME copper prices rebounded. Finally, the most actively-traded copper contract prices closed at RMB 67,000/mt, down RMB 500/mt or a loss of 0.74%. Positions for the most actively-traded copper contracts were up 4,258 lots, and trading volumes were up 65,434 lots. After closing down for four consecutive days, and since trading volumes increased significantly, SHFE three-month copper contract prices gradually quickened the pace of falling. With pressures gathering at the moving averages, SHFE three-month copper contract prices would look for a support at RMB 66,000/mt in the near term.       

In the spot market, copper supply increased obviously, as copper for hedge trading came on the markets, and since imported copper arrived in due to previous quotation pricing. Hence, spot copper premiums failed to increase, even if SHFE copper prices moved lower after a low open, with offers quoted between premiums of positive RMB 20-70/mt, nearly flat with the previous trading day. Trade prices for standard-quality copper were between RMB 66,950-67,200/mt in the morning business, and RMB 67,050-67,350/mt for high-quality copper. Downstream producers made purchases on an as-needed basis, keeping market transactions weak. SHFE copper prices rallied after falling, but real transactions were still limited, causing copper premiums to fail to rise. Premiums for high-quality copper were reported near positive RMB 50-80/mt, and RMB 20-30/mt for standard-quality copper, virtually unchanged from the morning levels. Traded prices, however, lost RMB 67,000/mt, and fell between RMB 66,700-66,800/mt, and transactions were mainly made by traders.