Japan Official Copper and Zinc Prices Down

Nippon Mining & Metals announced on Thursday the firm revised down the official copper ingot price by 30,000 yen to 790,000 yen per tonne for domestic shipment in December. The monthly average would be 794,700 yen without any more revision within December. The firm raised the official price by 60,000 yen to 820,000 yen on 3 December which exceeded 800,000 yen for the first time in 2 weeks. However, the price was revised down again only after 2 business days.Overseas copper markets dropped down in December due to the increase of copper inventory held by London Metal Exchange and the concerns for US economy. LME copper 3-month future price was US$ 6,655 per tonne on Wednesday, sharply down by US$ 380 or 5.3% from the recent peak at US$ 7,030.Mitsui Mining & Smelting announced on Thursday the firm revised down the official zinc ingot price by 20,000 yen to 305,000 yen per tonne for domestic shipment in December. The firm raised the official price by 40,000 yen on 3 December but decreased it only after 2 business days. The monthly average would be 308,300 yen without any more revision within December.LME zinc settlement was US$ 2,371.5 per tonne on Wednesday, up by US$ 12 from the previous day. However, the settlement was lower by US$ 159 than US$ 2,530.5 on 30 November along which Mitsui Mining & Smelting previously revised the domestic official zinc price.