Cash-in inclination to drive spot copper offers to discounts next week

SHANGHAI, Jul 26 (SMM) – Premiums of spot copper fell slightly on the morning of Friday July 26 in Shanghai, as sellers tended to let go cargoes at the end of a month. Purchases by traders for the delivery of long-term contracts waned, but there remained some downstream demand for cargoes with July’s invoices. 

The spot copper market is likely to see expanded discounts offers next week amid cash-in inclination across sellers, SMM expects. 

At noon of Friday July 26, sluggish consumption prompted sellers to lower offers for cargoes with August’s invoices to a discount of 10 yuan/mt, against the SHFE from-month August contract. But downstream purchases underpinned premiums of products with invoices for July, standing at 40-50 yuan/mt for high-quality copper, and at 10 yuan/mt for standard quality copper.

Offers of hydro-copper held firm at a discount of 60-30 yuan/mt at noon. Traders were eager to procure cheap copper with standard grade, but the bargaining room was limited, SMM learned. 

On Friday July 26, the SHFE August contract traded rangebound after overnight declines and ended the morning trading session at 46,960 yuan/mt, down 20 yuan/mt from that time on July 25.

At noon on Friday July 26, high-grade copper traded at 46,970-47,000 yuan/mt and standard-quality copper traded at 46,940-46,970 yuan/mt.