Japan Official Copper Price Marks Highest in 26 Years

Nippon Mining & Metals announced on Monday it raised the official copper ingot price by 30,000 yen to 680,000 yen per tonne for domestic shipment in March. It was the 6th price revision this month and the new price reached the highest level in 26 years, which was 72,000 yen per tonne in early March, 1980. The monthly averaged price became 642,700 yen per tonne.Japanese official price followed the sharp increase of overseas copper market prices. Copper inventories are at the historical low level of both London Metal Exchange (LME) and New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). Under the situation, there was huge volume of speculative buying at LME and NYMEX, also followed by the firm economic indicator of the U.S., escalating price of crude oil and the land slide accident near Grasberg mine in Indonesia. LME copper settlement price marked US$ 5,261 per tonne on Friday, the highest price since July 1, 1993. Furthermore, the spot price rose to US$ 5,332 in the afternoon session on the same day. NYMEX copper price also marked the record at 241.15 cents per pound on the same day.In addition, the telegraphic transfer selling (TTS) rate became 118.17 yen per one US dollar on Monday, which dropped by near 1 yen from the previous official copper price revision on March 20. The cheaper yen rate also caused the price hike by Nippon Mining & Metals.