SHANGHAI, Nov. 19 (SMM) – SHFE 1601 copper started at RMB 35,300/mt for night trading Tuesday and advanced to RMB 35,370/mt due to exit of shorts. Later, the contract fell back to RMB 35,020/mt on firm dollar and ended at RMB 35,090/mt with a loss of RMB 90/mt or 0.26%. Positions grew 8,918 to 337,386 and trading volumes were around 322,000 lots.

SHFE copper fell to a new low of RMB 34,420/mt on Wednesday but later bounced back thanks to short-covering, to close at RMB 34,880/mt, falling RMB 300/mt. Positions fell 124 and trading volumes were around 887,000 lots.

On Wednesday, spot copper was offered between discounts of RMB 60/mt and premiums of RMB 20/mt over SHFE 1512 copper in Shanghai, versus RMB 34,650-34,790/mt for standard-quality copper and RMB 34,690 -34,850/mt for high-quality copper.

In the morning, some large traders sourced goods in market but other traders and downstream buyers waited for further price falls with persistently falling SHFE copper. Overall demand stayed weak. In the afternoon, high-quality copper prices returned to pars. Some downstream buyers gradually started purchase after SHFE copper touched Tuesday’s low level. As a result, transactions were contributed mainly by downstream large buyers.