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Nearby copper cost hit by weak China need, warehouse surplus

Suppressed copper need in top consumer China and the shipment of surplus metal to the London Metal Exchange (LME) approved storage facilities has actually moved the cost discount rate for close-by contracts versus the benchmark contract to record highs.

The contango or discount for the LME money contract over the standard or three-month forward << CMCU0-3 > jumped above $160 a. metric load today compared with levels around $70 only 2. months earlier.

Copper stocks << MCUSTX-TOTAL > in LME storage facilities at. 206,775 loads have doubled considering that the middle of May to their. highest considering that October 2021. Most of the deliveries were to. storage facilities in South Korea and Taiwan, the nearest shipment. places for exports from China, normally a net importer.

reported in May that Chinese copper manufacturers were. planning to export as much as 100,000 lots of metal.

Stock deliveries to LME continue said Marex metals. strategist Alastair Munro.

This connect reports that China's production in June. rose 9.5% y/y to 1.005 million loads and previous reports that. amid a dearth of authentic Chinese physical demand, smelters there. were going to provide (to LME warehouses).

Producers, consumers and traders frequently offer surplus metal on. the LME as a market of last hope due to the fact that their businesses need. the cash flow.

Financing banks and product traders purchase this metal and. offer it for a future date at a higher rate to make a profit. after expenses which include warehouse rent and insurance and known. as the carry trade.

Industry sources say the factor behind record high contangos. is climbing up expenses of financing metals fuelled by greater interest. rates, particularly U.S. rate of interest as product. transactions are usually in dollars.

Contangos show the expense of holding physical metal. When. costs rise the contango increases. The greatest boost comes. from dollar interest rates which are not half a percent any. more, a copper trader stated.

The (copper) amounts warranted in such a brief space of. time are significant and it looks like there is more to come.

Three-month copper at around $9,800 a ton has. dropped more than 10% because hitting an all-time high above. $ 11,100 on May 20.

(source: Reuters)