Japan Official Cu Price Revised down to Below 400,000 Yen/t

Japanese official copper ingot price became less than 400,000 yen per tonne for the first time since December 2004. Nippon Mining & Metals revised down the official copper ingot price by 30,000 yen (7.5%) to 370,000 yen per tonne for domestic shipment in December on Thursday. Overseas copper markets maintained weak and the stronger yen trend continued against US dollar. The monthly average would be 374,700 yen without any more revision within December.

Overseas copper markets, the indicator, turned to downtrend again this month. On 3 December, copper settlement at London Metal Exchange was US$ 3,423 per tonne, the lowest since US$ 3,307 on 2 June of 2005, and copper spot price at New York Commodity Exchange was US 153.35 cents per pound, the bottom since US 150.50 cents on 31 May of 2005.

The telegraphic transfer selling (TTS) rate was 94.23 yen per US dollar on Thursday. TTS rate was around 109-110 yen per US dollar from late May to early June in 2005, when the official copper ingot price was as low as the present.