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

Nippon Metal & Mining announced on Thursday the firm decreased the official copper ingot price by 30,000 yen to 960,000 yen for June shipment from 990,000 yen when the firm revised the price on May 29. Mitsui Mining & Smelting announced on Thursday the firm increased the official zinc ingot price by 19,000 yen to 465,000 yen per tonne for June shipment. The price is approaching to record 471,000 yen on May 12 with higher offshore market price. Mitsubishi Materials announced on Thursday the firm decreased the official lead ingot price by 6,000 yen to 161,000 yen per tonne for June shipment. The price decreased by 23% from recent high at 210,000 yen on February 7 under the lower offshore market. The indicative copper price at London Metal Exchange increased to US$ 8,421 per tonne at settlement on Tuesday, which was US$ 120 higher than that before bank holiday weekend. However, the copper price plunged in the afternoon session due to higher LME inventory, sharp drop of copper price at New York Commodity Exchange, which shifted from May to June shipment, and volatile US dollar market. The LME price decreased to US$ 8,140 at settlement and to US$ 8,047 at cash purchase price in the afternoon session on Wednesday, which was lowest level since US$ 7,683 on May 22.