SMM Daily Review – 2012/1/12 Copper Market

SHANGHAI, Jan. 13 (SMM) –As LME copper prices extended gains overnight, SHFE 1203 copper contract prices, the most active one, opened up by RMB 620/mt at RMB 56,980/mt Thursday. SHFE three-month copper contract prices continued to fluctuate around the daily moving average after the opening, and were pushed down to a low of RMB 56,730/mt after challenging resistance at RMB 57,000/mt. In the afternoon session, a drop in the US dollar helped LME copper prices soar through USD 7,800/mt, causing SHFE three-month copper contract prices to move higher and touch an intraday high of RMB 57,460/mt. Finally, SHFE 1203 copper contract prices settled at RMB 57,400/mt, up RMB 1,000/mt or 1.77%. Positions for 1203 copper contracts were down 26,206 lots, and trading volumes were down 114,000 lots. SHFE copper prices climbed this week and would continue to move higher over the near term owing to technical support. 

In the spot market, SHFE copper prices moved higher after a high open, but cargo-holders of domestic copper reduced quantities of sales volumes significantly and refused to expand discounts, which, therefore, were generally between negative RMB 280-120/mt in the morning business. Traded prices for standard-quality copper were between RMB 56,100-56,350/mt, and RMB 56,200-56,500/mt for high-quality copper. Cargo-holders of imported copper chose to move goods aggressively during the whole trading day, but market transactions were obviously restricted at levels above RMB 56,000/mt. In the afternoon session, as SHFE copper prices continued to trend upside, both speculators and downstream producers opted to buy small quantities of spot copper and sell SHFE copper contracts, while traded prices edged up to between RMB 56,150-56,550/mt.