SHANGHAI, Jul. 17 (SMM) – Though SHFE copper prices continue to lack any impetus to rise appreciably, they have proven more resistant to decline than LME copper recently. The Chinese market resisted matching LME copper price rises as domestic copper consumption remained sluggish. When copper prices slumped rapidly, however, bargain hunting effectively put a floor under SHFE copper prices. As copper futures prices inched down last week, the SHFE/LME copper price ratio rose above 7.3 from the previous week's 7.26, which cut the loss margins on imported scrap copper. CIF quotations for #1 scrap copper were thus US 16¢/lb below Comex copper for September delivery last week, and minus US 25-26¢/lb for #2 scrap copper. Losses on imported bare bright copper narrowed to RMB 100-300/mt. Against this backdrop, traders still exhibited little interest in importing scrap copper and downstream consuming enterprises continued to simply purchase to order.