Japan Copper Scrap Export Price Maintains Firm

Export price maintains firm for electric copper wire scrap including 40-45% of copper in Tokyo, after the price recovered to around 260-270 yen per kilogram by last week. However, the contract volume is not increasing remarkably between Japanese scrap dealers and Chinese scrap importers, the main customer country of Japanese copper scrap.More than 90% of Japanese electric copper wire scrap export is bound for China. Chinese importers refused copper scrap with high prices and demanded cheaper prices against Japanese scrap dealers by the end of June. Many contracts could not reach agreement. Japanese dealer sources indicate the electric copper wire export for China would decrease sharply in June compared with May.The domestic market price turned to the increase for electric copper wire scrap in Japan in July thanks to the sharp rebound of international copper markets. The profitable line of Chinese scrap importers can also be improved as for the new imports. Then Chinese importers began to show stances to accept higher prices at some range.Japanese export price recovered from 220-230 yen to 260-270 yen per kg under the conditions, while trading and price recovery are not enough for indoor wiring cables which are difficult to be scrapped.