Japan Official Pb Price Renews Yearly High

Mitsubishi Materials announced on Monday the firm revised up the official lead ingot price by 12,000 yen to 222,000 yen per tonne for June shipment, which renewed the yearly high. The firm reflected the continued rise of offshore market. The monthly averaged price is 213,800 yen without anymore revision within June.

Lead settlement at London Metal Exchange increased by US$ 9.5 to US$ 1,796.50 per tonne on Friday from a previous day. The price at LME was $ 142 higher than US$ 1,654.50 on June 5, which was previous revision by Mitsubishi Materials.

Telegraphic transfer selling rate was 99.22 yen per US dollar on Monday, which was 0.39 yen higher from the level at the previous revision by Mitsubishi Materials. However, the firm increased the official price due to the surge of overseas market price. Japanese official price of lead has increased by 41,000 yen or 23% from 181,000 yen at the beginning of May.

Speculative money increases in nonferrous metal market due to expectation for higher price for resources and minerals under the global stock market rise. LME lead price increased by around 25% from US$ 1,400 per tonne at the beginning of May. The inventory at warehouses registered to LME is increasing steadily in the range of 82,000 tonnes, up about 80% from the beginning of the year. However, the price is slightly impacted by high inventory.