SMM Copper Market Daily Review (2015-1-9)

SHANGHAI, Jan. 12 (SMM) – Copper for March delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the most active contract, dipped to RMB 44,450/mt in Thursday’s night session after starting at RMB 45,000/mt and closed down RMB 240/mt at RMB 44,500/mt. During the night session, trading volumes edged up to some 150,000 lots, while positions gained by 7,434.

SHFE copper hovered around RMB 44,500/mt early on Friday, but fell by the midday to close down RMB 490/mt, or 1.1%, at an intraday low of RMB 44,250/mt. Trading volumes for the most active contract added by 176,000 lots, while positions increased by 10,670. Trading volumes for the SHFE 1504 copper contract increased by 85,058 lots, while positions rose by 16,292.

Spot copper in Shanghai was quoted Friday at a RMB 100-180/mt discount to the SHFE 1501 copper contract. Standard- and high-quality copper sold for RMB 45,080-45,240/mt and RMB 45,120-45,300/mt, respectively.

A fall in SHFE copper allowed further outflows of hedged goods, while imported copper remained ample in the market. Most cargo holders raised discounts to boost sales as the price gap between the SHFE 1501 and 1502 copper contracts expanded to nearly RMB 500/mt. A small number of middlemen bought spot copper while building short positions on the futures market. Downstream producers barely entered the market on Friday. Spot copper was offered at a RMB 100-160/mt discount and traded at RMB 45,200-45,280/mt in the afternoon trading. SHFE copper inventories added 751 mt to 112,666 mt last week.