Major Brass, Copper Scrap prices in India decline; Copper Futures up 2.9 percent

INDIA May 02 2017 3:33 PM

AHMEDABAD (Scrap Register): Major brass and copper scrap prices in India showed a down trend during Monday, while copper futures prices at India's Multi Commodity Exchange settled 2.09 percent higher.

India's major brass and copper scrap commodities like brass huny scrap, brass sheet cuttings, brass shell 40mm, brass utensil scrap, acr copper coil 3/8, copper armature, copper mixed scrap, copper pat, copper shell 40mm, copper wire scrap and copper super d.rod traded down on Monday.

The most active June copper contract on the India's Multi Commodity Exchange ended up by 2.09 percent to Rs. 380.55 per kilogram on Monday from previous close of Rs. 372.75 per kilogram. Copper Futures at MCX touched an intra-day high of Rs. 385 per kilogram and an intra-day low of Rs. 371.60 per kilogram during Monday.

Copper prices at Multi Commodity Exchange gained as support seen after the union representing a third of the 32,000 workforce sent a notice to Freeport on Monday threatening to strike from May 1 to the end of the month at the Grasberg mine, the worlds second-biggest copper mine.

Thousands of workers from the Indonesian unit of Freeport McMoRan Inc staged a rally near its Papua mine on Monday, a union leader said, protesting against lay offs by the miner due to a contract dispute with the government. 

Freeport is trying to ramp up output and exports at Grasberg after reaching a temporary deal with the government following a 15-week stoppage linked to new mining rules, but customers are concerned that labour unrest could now hit supply. Freeport has laid off about 10 percent of its workforce and warned it could cut another 5,000 to stem losses, sparking protests from workers.