Japan Cu Scrap Price to Remain Slow

Japanese copper scrap market would remain slow in the year. Market sources see Japanese official copper ingot price could increase by 10,000 yen to 660,000 yen per tonne as early as on December 7. However, the scrap demand slows and the dealers almost stopped the scrap purchase due to large loss from inventory valuation.

The scrap supply remains low around Osaka and the dealers would not increase the scrap purchase volume due to their loss making high priced inventory. The scrap users keep the purchase volume at low level.

Local major brass bar maker has kept low level brass turning scrap purchase volume around Osaka since November 2010. Local dealer sources said the turning scrap price would keep low level for 2-3 months due to the slow demand. The dealers see the copper scrap price would keep the range through the year when they finish the shipment on December 15 or 16 before the yearend holiday.