Spot Copper Price Movement (2014-4-10)

SHANGHAI, Apr. 10 (SMM) – In the Shanghai physical market, copper was offered Thursday at premiums of RMB 180-250/mt over the SHFE current-month copper contract. Traded prices were RMB 47,250-47,400/mt for standard-quality copper and RMB 47,290-47,450/mt for high-quality copper. As the price gap between the SHFE 1404 copper contract and the SHFE 1405 copper contract expanded to some RMB 400/mt, cargo holders traded with premiums at par with Wednesday, but had significantly higher selling interest. The gap between premiums for high-quality copper and those for standard-quality copper contracted gradually since a larger amount of high-quality copper supply was found in the market. After SHFE copper prices accelerated to fall by the midday, physical premiums for high-quality copper instead further narrowed. With wider gap between the SHFE current-month copper contract and SHFE distant-month copper contract, middlemen began purchasing physical copper and sold off distant-month contracts. Downstream producers Thursday continued to purchase only to need, with modest trading activity. Physical premiums are expected to narrow further in the near term.