Japan Official Cu Ingot Price Sharply Rebounds to 420,000 Yen/t

Nippon Mining & Metals announced on Thursday the firm raised its copper ingot selling price, the market indicator, by 40,000 yen to 420,000 yen per tonne for domestic shipment in March. The price exceeded 400,000 yen and reached the latest high level for the first time since late November of 2008. The monthly average would become 414,200 yen without any more revision within March.

The revision reflected copper price upsurge in overseas markets. Copper spot price at London Metal Exchange was US$ 3,705 per tonne at purchasing price in afternoon trading on 4 March. Copper spot price at New York Commodity Exchange was 168.55 US cents per pound on the same day. Both market prices recovered the level as high as November 2008.

One positive factor is that copper inventory in LME designated warehouses continued decreasing for 5 trading days. The inventory was 526,025 tonnes announced on 4 March though the recent peak was 548,400 tonnes announced on 25 February. Another supportive factor is that Chinese copper demand shows a sign to recover.

Additionally Japanese yen continued to weaken against US dollar due to severe economy slump and political confusions in Japan. On Thursday, telegraphic transfer selling rate was 100.28 yen per US dollar, which was as cheap as 100.77 yen on 5 November, 2008.