Japan Cu Smelters Start Ingot Price Talk for 2009 Shipment

Japanese copper smelters started copper ingot price negotiation with offshore contract users for 2009 shipment. The smelters are expected to reduce the premium to the level of Chilean major, Corporacion Nacional del Cobre (CODELCO), which reduced the premium by 35-36% for 2009 from 2008 setting the premium at US$ 64 per tonne for South Korea and US$ 65 for Taiwan. Japanese smelters would secure lower contract sales volume when the buyers increase the spot purchase.

The premium, which is surcharge on ingot price at London Metal Exchange, is part of the revenue of the smelters. CODELCO changes the premium for each area including Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China and Europe depending on the demand condition. Japanese smelters negotiate the price with the users based on CODELCO’s premium.

CODELCO reduced the premium to US$ 64 per tonne for Korea and US$ 65 for Taiwan for 2009 shipment compared with US$ 99 and US$ 102 respectively in 2008. The firm reduced the Japan premium from US$ 102 to US$ 65 for Yokohama and to US$ 79 for Nagoya, Osaka and Kobe while the premium is unknown for Chinese buyers.