Thin trades on delivery day weigh on spot copper offers

SHANGHAI, Sep 17 (SMM) – Spot copper was mostly offered at a discount of 150 yuan/mt to a premium of 10 yuan/mt over the SHFE 1809 contract in Shanghai on Monday September 17. This compared with a discount of 40 yuan/mt to a premium of 10 yuan/mt last Friday. 

Discounts grew as downstream buyers hesitated on the last trading day for the SHFE 1809 contract, and as traders demanded lower prices of higher-quality copper.

The SHFE October contract traded 300-320 yuan/mt lower from the September contract before noon. The price gap widened from 230 yuan/mt at opening today. 

There were also offers heard against the SHFE October contract. Thin trades lowered these offers to a premium of 170-180 yuan/mt for high-quality copper, and to a premium of 130-140 yuan/mt for standard quality products before noon. Offered were mostly heard at a premium of 150-200 yuan/mt over the 1810 contract in the early morning. 

Premiums are unlikely to dip much after delivery on Monday, as sellers bet on higher consumption before the week-long National Day holiday on October 1, SMM believes. 

At noon, high-grade copper traded at 48,230-48,360 yuan/mt and standard-quality copper traded at 48,200-48,330 yuan/mt.