Japan Official Copper Price Drops by 60,000 yen/t

Nippon Mining & Metals reduced the official copper ingot price by 60,000 yen to 800,000 yen per tonne for November shipment on Tuesday, which is 8-month low since March 13. The price decreased by 140,000 yen or 14.9% from the beginning of the month and by 220,000 yen or 21.6% from recent peak on October 4. Offshore market increases concern for potential slow down for economy, especially for US economy due to subprime loan. The sentiment reduced the investment for US dollar assets. Copper ingot price also decreases when London Metal Exchange’s copper inventory increased by 34.6% to 176,200 tonnes in less than a month. LME copper price decreased to US$ 6,779 per tonne at settlement on Monday while foreign exchange rate of yen increased to 110.98 yen per US dollar. Mitsubishi Materials reduced the official lead ingot price by 51,000 yen to 428,000 yen per tonne for November shipment to reflect lower offshore price and higher yen rate. The price is 2-month low when LME lead price decreased to US$ 3,487 per tonne at settlement on Monday.