Shanghai copper futures sagged on Wednesday but stayed in steep backwardation, as a tight spot market continued to keep prompt futures high. Most active June copper closed at 31,280 yuan ($3,780) Wednesday, down 160 yuan, as slightly lower prices on the London Metal Exchange pressured Shanghai futures. Spot copper lost 275 yuan to 34,100-34,400 yuan early Wednesday, but remained at a nearly 1,000 yuan premium to April futures.
Traders said the China spot market was supported by a more than 40 percent drop in inventory levels at Shanghai Futures Exchange warehouses last week.
A combined 122,366 lots of copper futures traded in Shanghai Wednesday, up from 76,030 lots Tuesday.
Benchmark three-month LME copper futures traded at $3,222.50 a tonne at 0703 GMT, down $7 a tonne from the same time Tuesday.
Shanghai aluminium futures were largely steady, with most-active June up 20 yuan from Tuesday's close, at 16,730 yuan. Spot aluminium was assessed at 16,520-16,540 yuan a tonne, or a 10-30 yuan discount to April futures.
In London at 0703 GMT, three-month aluminium traded at $1,939 a tonne, up $3.50 a tonne from the same time Tuesday.
A combined 9,938 lots of Shanghai aluminium futures changed hands Wednesday, down from 10,034 lots Tuesday.
Comments
Comments are closed.