SHANGHAI, Sept. 19 (SMM) –As LME copper prices increased more than USD 100/mt on the previous trading day, SHFE 1111 copper contract prices opened up RMB 390/mt at RMB 65,580/mt on Friday. Since LME copper prices drifted higher and the Shanghai Composite Index fluctuated lower after meeting resistance at 2,500 points, SHFE 1111 copper contract prices fluctuated around the daily moving average after the opening. At the tail of trading, large-scale position closings by the shorts pushed SHFE 1111 copper contract prices up to an intraday high of RMB 66,000/mt. Finally, SHFE 1111 copper contract prices closed at RMB 65,970/mt, up RMB 780/mt or a gain of 1.2%. The fluctuating band of SHFE 1112 copper contract prices moved higher, with prices touching a high of RMB 65,890/mt in the afternoon and closing at RMB 65,850/mt, Positions for SHFE 1111 copper contracts were down 23,104 lots and trading volumes were down 134,000 lots, while positions for SHFE 1112 copper contracts were up 8,280 lots and trading volumes were down 23,364 lots, and the shift of the most actively-traded copper contracts were completed. The longs took the opportunity to make profit-taking, and didn’t show strong willingness in keeping up with rising copper prices. SHFE copper prices need more positive news to break the existing resistance at the 5-day moving average.

In the spot market, as SHFE copper prices stopped falling and copper supply reduced slightly compared with earlier stages, copper discounts slightly narrowed in the morning business compared with the previous trading day, reporting between negative RMB 70-0/mt. Daily traded prices for standard-quality copper were between RMB 65,650-65,750/mt, and RMB 65,700-65,850/mt for high-quality copper. Due to locked hedge trading, this kind of cargo-holders were unable to move goods, and cargo-holders of domestic copper were unwilling to sell at discounts, while downstream producers increased purchases before the weekends and since SHFE copper prices began to stabilize following the declines. Market surpluses eased slightly. Copper inventories monitored by the Shanghai Future Exchange (SHFE) were down 1,239 mt to 112,061 mt in the week ending September 16th, highlighting that downstream producers and traders increased purchases at the lows.