Chinese spot price of 1# refined copper (Cu:≥99.95%) increased by Yuan 442/tonne day on day to Yuan 69,706/tonne on December 28, according to Mysteel's assessment.
Specifically, spot prices of 1# refined copper in Shanghai under Mysteel's tracking increased by Yuan 500/tonne day on day to average at Yuan 69,730/tonne, running in the range of Yuan 69,660-69,800/tonne. Moreover, its spot discount rose by Yuan 175/tonne day on day to a premium of Yuan 180/tonne.
Refined copper transactions remained sluggish in China today. During the early trading period, mainstream copper brands such as 3C-P and JCC were quoted at a premium of Yuan 180-200/tonne in the Shanghai market. Nevertheless, downstream purchases were still characterized by rigid demand due to soaring premiums and the approaching month-end. In the second trading session of the morning, mainstream standard copper brand quotations were downgraded to a premium of Yuan 160-180/tonne, while premium copper was traded at a premium of Yuan 190/tonne. Spot trading is expected to remain at a premium this week.
The transactions of refined copper rods were muted in China's main markets today amid soaring copper prices and premiums. The trading demand from traders and downstream cable producers became increasingly weak as they entered the year-end closing period. According to Mysteel's survey, small and medium-sized processing enterprises in East China received orders of about 300-500 tonnes today, while large enterprises sold about 600 tonnes.
Although the price spread between refined and secondary copper rods continued to increase, secondary copper rod transactions in China today were similar to yesterday and remained subdued. The market was weak at year-end as end-users had low acceptance of high copper prices. Therefore, their replenishment willingness was also poor. According to Mysteel's survey, most processing enterprises in South China received new orders of less than 100 tonnes today.
Copper scrap transactions in China perked up today. Upstream suppliers' trading willingness turned strong and they actively inquired in the morning. Therefore, they reduced their inventory appropriately and gained profits. The raw materials and finished product inventory in downstream enterprises were slowly consumed, so they still maintained the normal progress in raw material procurement and had a soft demand for inventory replenishment.
Written by Claudia Jin, jinzheyuan@mysteel.com
Edited by Paula Xu, xuzhongping@mysteel.com