SHANGHAI, Feb. 2 (SMM) – Copper for April delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the most active contract, started at RMB 39,160/mt and then slipped to RMB 38,890/mt in Thursday’s night session. The price of the SHFE 1504 copper contract rebounded to RMB 39,520/mt afterwards and finished down RMB 380/mt, or 0.96% at RMB 39,140/mt. Positions for the most active contract gained 2,832 to 391,614, while positions amounted to nearly 400,000 lots.

On Friday, SHFE copper initially trended higher to hover narrowly around RMB 39,350/mt, but later dipped to RMB 39,100/mt before ending down RMB 430/mt, or 1.09% at RMB 39,090/mt. Trading volumes for the most active contract gained by 45,304 lots, while positions added by 26,000.

Spot copper was quoted at a RMB 0-80/mt discount to the SHFE 1502 copper contract in Shanghai on Friday. Standard- and high-quality copper sold for RMB 39,520-39,860/mt and RMB 39,560-39,920/mt, respectively. Spot copper supply surged on Friday as imported copper rose. Cargo holders offered a RMB 0-50/mt discount, but no transactions were reported in the morning trade. Spot copper was quoted at a RMB 40-80/mt discount, almost on par with high-quality copper prices. Falling prices lured some middlemen and downstream producers to go bargain-hunting, leading to a marked improvement in trading. Spot copper was quoted at a RMB 20-50/mt discount and traded at RMB 39,550 -39,680/mt in the afternoon trading. SHFE copper inventories grew 2,905 mt to 137,042 mt last week.