Chinese spot price of 1# refined copper (Cu:≥99.95%) rose by Yuan 40/tonne day on day to Yuan 68,639/tonne on July 20, according to Mysteel's assessment.
Specifically, spot prices of 1# refined copper in Shanghai under Mysteel's tracking increased by Yuan 45/tonne day on day to average at Yuan 68,625/tonne, running in the range of Yuan 68,550-68,700/tonne. Moreover, its premium rose by Yuan 25/tonne day on day to Yuan 125/tonne.
Refined copper transactions in China were modest. Copper prices still fluctuated at high levels today, partially suppressing downstream demand. Contract rolling and reduced imported copper supply boosted the premium, while the acceptance of high premiums from downstream enterprises was poor. Only spots from traders that are lower priced have achieved widespread transactions.
The trading volume of refined copper rods in China remained light today due to high prices. Most processing enterprises in East China sold around 500 tonnes today, which was similar to yesterday, while suppliers in South China only received less than 100 tonnes of transactions. Although both processing enterprises and traders tended to reduce processing fees to promote transactions, most copper cable manufacturers did not have enough acceptance of current prices and only maintained procurement for basic demand.
The secondary copper rod transactions in major Chinese markets remained stable today, mainly because the price advantage of the secondary copper rod was not prominent. Due to the instability of raw material procurement, the quotation of processing enterprises was on the high side, which has suppressed market demand. In addition, downstream enterprises did not show significant demand release in the long order delivery period.
Scrap transactions in China remained weak. According to Mysteel's survey, the current spots on the market are still relatively scarce. While some traders, who hold a large number of short positions, collect spots for hedging, exacerbating the supply shortage. The price divergence between suppliers and processing enterprises was obvious, which made it difficult to clinch a deal.
Written by Edenlis Huang, huangting@mysteel.com
Edited by Paula Xu, xuzhongping@mysteel.com