SMM Copper Market Daily Review (2015-2-3)

SHANGHAI, Feb. 4 (SMM) – Copper for April delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the most active contract, started at RMB 40,110/mt and then rallied to RMB 40,440/mt in Monday’s night session. The price of the SHFE 1504 copper contract fell slightly at the tail of the trading and finished up RMB 370/mt, or 0.93% at RMB 40,200/mt. Positions for the most active contract added 4,022 to 420,718, while trading volumes hovered at some 250,000 lots.

On Tuesday, SHFE copper rose initially RMB 400/mt and then fluctuated narrowly around RMB 40,730/mt before closing up RMB 930/mt, or 2.33% at RMB 40,760/mt. Positions for the most active contract decreased 15,570 to 400,826, while trading volumes shrank by some 40,000 lots. Positions for all SHFE copper contracts fell 35,830 to 896,212.

Spot copper was quoted at a RMB 20-120/mt premium to the SHFE 1502 copper contract in Shanghai on Tuesday. Standard- and high-quality copper sold for RMB 40,680-40,760/mt and RMB 40,700-40,830/mt, respectively.

Spot copper supply was sufficient, with the market dominated by imported copper. The price of standard-quality copper was almost on par with that of high-quality copper. Spot copper discounts expanded to RMB 70-120/mt at one point, luring some middlemen to go bargain-hunting, but later narrowed to RMB 20-70/mt. A small quantity of high-quality copper was offered at a RMB 10/mt discount by the midday. Spot copper was offered at a RMB 30-50/mt discount and traded at RMB 40,780-40,950/mt in the afternoon trading.