Eased trades, rising futures lower spot copper premiums

SHANGHAI, Aug 8 (SMM) – Spot copper was mostly offered at a premium of 40-90 yuan/mt over the SHFE 1808 contract in Shanghai on Wednesday August 8. This compared with a premium of 50-110 yuan/m on Tuesday.

While the SHFE 1808 contract climbed up in the morning, spot premiums declined as purchasing enthusiasm from traders and downstream consumers eased.

Offers of high-quality copper dipped from a premium of 90 yuan/mt to 60 yuan/mtin the morning, and premiums of standard-quality products fell to 40 yuan/mt from 50-60 yuan/mt earlier in the morning. Premiums of hydro-copper also declined some 20 yuan/mt to flat over the SHFE 1808 contract. Actual transactions did not improve as buyers mostly stood on the sidelines.

The SHFE 1808 contract traded robustly amid inflows of capital. It surged sharply after 11:00 am and closed at 49,480 yuan/mt at the end of the morning trading session, up 190 yuan from that time on Tuesday August 7. 

As the price spread between the SHFE 1808 and 1809 contracts continued to narrow, spot premiums are unlikely to rebound on Thursday. The SHFE 1809 contract traded at around 60 yuan/mt higher from the 1808 contract this morning, compared to a spread of 90 yuan/mt on Tuesday. 

At noon, high-grade copper traded at 49,460-49,520 yuan/mt and standard-quality copper traded at 49,440-49,500 yuan/mt.