SHANGHAI, Jun. 16 (SMM) – The most active SHFE copper contract started Thursday’s night session lower at RMB 47,500/mt, and closed down RMB 260/mt at RMB 47,370/mt. During the night session, traded volumes stood at around 150,000 lots, and positions gained by 934 lots.

On Friday, SHFE copper prices rose to a high of USD 47,860/mt, and finished up RMB 100/mt, or 0.21%, at RMB 47,730/mt. Traded volumes for the most active contract expanded by 95,884 lots, and positions lost by 14,006 lots. Positions for the SHFE 1406 copper contract shed by 7,960 lots.

In the Shanghai physical market, copper was offered Friday at a RMB 200-320/mt premium over the SHFE front-month copper contract. Traded prices were RMB 48,950-49,120/mt for standard-quality copper and RMB 49,020-49,200/mt for high-quality copper. The SHFE front-month copper contract rose sharply on Friday, sending the price gap between the SHFE 1406 and 1407 copper contracts up to RMB 800/mt. This gave cargo holders an incentive to move goods at higher premiums. Standard-quality was still rarely found in the market during the morning trading, but physical supply increased by the midday as the price gap narrowed to RMB 600/mt. Middlemen expressed modest buying interest, and some cargo holders stayed on the sidelines, expecting higher premiums after the delivery date. Meanwhile, downstream producers were reluctant to buy at prices above RMB 49,000/mt, with trading activity being quite on Friday.

SHFE copper prices encountered difficulties in rising during the afternoon trading session, and trading activity was sluggish, prompting some cargo holders to move goods at lower prices. Physical copper was largely quoted last Friday at a RMB 120-250/mt premium and traded between RMB 49,000-49,150/mt. Although the SHFE front-month copper contract rallied at the tail of the trading, cargo holders mostly stayed on the sidelines or cut premiums sharply, with those for high-quality copper down as low as RMB 10/mt. Meanwhile, SHFE copper inventories contracted by 4,571 mt to 81,929 mt.