SHANGHAI, Mar. 26 (SMM) – 58% of Chinese copper smelters were bearish on copper price outlook, an SMM survey showed.

These smelters expected SHFE copper prices to fall to 42,000 yuan per tonne, basing their opinion on increased risks arising from China’s corporate bond default.

Risk for copper financing deals was also on the rise after the People's Bank of China widened yuan’s trading band, while growing expectations for a weaker RMB would squeeze margins for copper financing. These negative factors, together with the weak market fundamentals, might send copper prices lower.

29% of smelters surveyed believed that copper prices would hold steady at 45,000 yuan a tonne following the rapid declines, pining their hopes on improving consumption in April which was expected to limit any rise in inventories.

The remaining 13% of smelters saw no clear clue for copper price trends.