Chinese copper cathode market sees limited deals
2024-04-02 10:07:02 [Print]
BEIJING (Asian Metal) 2 Apr 24 - Considering that PMI of China's manufacturing industry in March increased more than expected, insiders are relatively optimistic about the market outlook of copper cathode and prices for the material in the futures market stand at a high level; however, most downstream consumers are cautious about refilling stocks with reluctance to place orders. Mainstream prices of copper cathode stand at RMB72,600-72,800/t (USD10,039-10,066/t) in the domestic spot market currently, up by RMB600/t (USD82.97/t) from last Friday. Insiders predict that mainstream prices for the material would keep rising slightly in the following days.
A Zhejiang-based consumer said yesterday, "Considering such high prices in the market, we decided to purchase only a small volume of copper cathode today and finally purchased about 500t of the material at around RMB72,700/t (USD10,053/t) with a discount of RMB100/t (USD13.83/t) or so; our price for over 1,000t of the material was also RMB72,700/t (USD10,053/t) last Friday but with a discount of RMB220/t (USD30.42/t)." The consumer further disclosed that the consumption market is recovering, but it's still hard for them to accept the current price level.
With an annual consumption volume of 220,000t or so, the consumer consumed about 12,000t of copper cathode in March.
"We sold about 400t of copper cathode at RMB72,800/t (USD10,066/t) this morning with a discount of RMB10-20/t (USD1.38-2.77/t) and the price was basically the same as the futures price. Prices in the spot market increased slightly this afternoon, but buyers that sent enquiries declined obviously. In addition, we sold about 1,000t of the material at RMB72,300/t (USD9,997/t) last Friday with a discount of RMB100/t (USD13.83/t) or so," a producer in Jiangsu said yesterday.
With an annual production capacity of 300,000t, the producer had an output of 25,000t in March, holding about 1,000t of stocks today.
A Zhejiang-based consumer said yesterday, "Considering such high prices in the market, we decided to purchase only a small volume of copper cathode today and finally purchased about 500t of the material at around RMB72,700/t (USD10,053/t) with a discount of RMB100/t (USD13.83/t) or so; our price for over 1,000t of the material was also RMB72,700/t (USD10,053/t) last Friday but with a discount of RMB220/t (USD30.42/t)." The consumer further disclosed that the consumption market is recovering, but it's still hard for them to accept the current price level.
With an annual consumption volume of 220,000t or so, the consumer consumed about 12,000t of copper cathode in March.
"We sold about 400t of copper cathode at RMB72,800/t (USD10,066/t) this morning with a discount of RMB10-20/t (USD1.38-2.77/t) and the price was basically the same as the futures price. Prices in the spot market increased slightly this afternoon, but buyers that sent enquiries declined obviously. In addition, we sold about 1,000t of the material at RMB72,300/t (USD9,997/t) last Friday with a discount of RMB100/t (USD13.83/t) or so," a producer in Jiangsu said yesterday.
With an annual production capacity of 300,000t, the producer had an output of 25,000t in March, holding about 1,000t of stocks today.
