Higher Copper Scrap Price in Tokyo

No.1 copper wire scrap market price hit 800 yen per kilogram around Tokyo when Japanese official copper ingot price increased to 910,000 yen per tonne for the first time in 3 and half months. The scrap price could increase more under tight supply. Japanese copper ingot price increased by total 130,000 yen per tonne from recent bottom of 780,000 yen on January 22. With the higher price, no.1 copper wire scrap price increased by around 100 yen to 810 yen per kg around Tokyo during the period. Despite of the higher price, scrap generation is still low level around Tokyo. A dealer source said the supply gets tighter even for mixed scrap for export. Major scrap dealers reduce the inventory for supply commitment for rolled copper makers while the dealers try to secure the materials at premium price. Some dealers expect the scrap generation could increase toward term end of fiscal 2007 when major manufacturers liquidate the scrap. Other dealers anticipate the scrap supply would keep low when small copper products processors operate at lower level due to slower demand.