Japan Official Copper Price Drops by 30,000 yen/t

Nippon Mining & Metals announced on Thursday the firm reduces the official copper ingot price by 30,000 yen to 400,000 yen per tonne for November shipment to reflect lower international price and higher yen rate. The price is the lowest level since June 2005. The averaged monthly price decreases to 416,600 yen.

Copper price decreased by US$ 98.50 to US$ 3,592 per tonne at settlement of London Metal Exchange on Wednesday from previous day. The price decreased to less than recent low of US$ 3,686 on October 27. Telegraphic transfer selling rate was 96.63 yen per US dollar on Thursday, which was 1.48 yen higher than the level on November 7 when the firm revised the copper ingot price previously.

Lower copper price is partly due to higher copper inventory held by LME. The stock increased by 4,625 tonnes to 270,100 tonnes on Wednesday from previous day, which was the highest level since January 2004. The worldwide slower demand expands the oversupply.