SMM Daily Review - 2011/12/13 Copper Market

SHANGHAI, Dec. 14 (SMM) –As LME copper prices extended losses overnight, SHFE 1202 copper contract prices, the most active one, opened RMB 710/mt lower at RMB 56,260/mt Tuesday. SHFE three-month copper contract prices posted weak performance and fluctuated around the daily moving average of RMB 56,100/mt during the whole trading day, as the Shanghai Composite Index continued to close down by nearly 2%, with an intraday high at only RMB 56,360/mt. Finally, SHFE 1202 copper contract prices closed at RMB 56,120/mt, down RMB 850/mt or a loss of 1.49%. Positions for SHFE 1202 copper contracts were down 11,518 lots, and trading volumes were down 95,916 lots, highlighting the shift of the most actively-traded copper contracts. As market activity was light, copper prices were facing growing risks to fall further after falling below all moving averages. 

In the spot market, although SHFE copper prices moved lower after a low open, sufficient supply still caused copper discounts to expand across the board, reporting between negative RMB 200-100/mt. Daily traded prices for standard-quality copper were between RMB 57,450-57,600/mt, and RMB 57,500-57,650/mt for high-quality copper. Cargo-holders of hedged copper were eager to move goods during the whole trading day, and market transactions for high-quality copper were slightly higher than those for standard-quality copper. However, downstream producers still had no intention of entering the market, leaving market surpluses unresolved.