LME Cu Price to be US$ 6,500-8,500/t in April-September, Japan Interests

Japanese copper interests expects copper price will be in range of US$ 6,500-8,500 per tonne at London Metal Exchange in first half of fiscal 2010 starting April. Many interests expect the demand grows mainly in China while the supply increase is limited.

Sumitomo Metal Mining expects LME copper price is US$ 6,500-7,500 per tonne in first half of fiscal 2010. The firm expects Chinese copper demand pushes up the world demand by 3-5% in 2010 from 2009. The firm warns the supply couldn’t increase at the demand growth and the limited supply supports copper market.

Furukawa Electric expects LME 3-month copper future price is range of US$ 6,000-8,000 per tonne and mainly in US$ 7,000-7,500 in first half of fiscal 2010. The firm warns potential demand drop in China depending on financial policy while the demand is still weak in Japan, Europe and USA.

Sumitomo Electric Industries expects LME copper price is US$ 6,500-8,500 per tonne for first half of fiscal 2010. The firm expects with Chinese financial squeeze, speculative money could run away from commodity market. The firm expects actual copper demand will increase by around 1 million tonnes in 2010 from 2009 mainly in emerging market and the ore supply gets tighter toward late 2010.

Kobe Steel expects LME 3-month copper future price is US$ 6,800-8,300 per tonne in first half of fiscal 2010. The world copper supply could be short in 2010 depending on Chinese demand while major research institutes expects 100,000-400,000 tonnes of oversupply.

Sumitomo Light Metal Industries expects LME 3-month copper future price is US$ 7,000-8,500 per tonne in first half of fiscal 2010. The firm sees the world demand recovers while the recovery pace is various in each area and country. The firm expects Chinese copper demand keeps growing for infrastructure and industrial use. With the higher demand, the copper ore supply could keep tight.

Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting expects LME copper price is US$ 7,000-8,200 per tonne in first half of fiscal 2010. The firm expects the market keeps firm with growing world copper demand recovery despite of the higher copper inventory.