The most-traded January copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose slightly to 47,580 yuan ($7,769) a tonne on Friday. However, underlying demand was weak as indicated by a $5 drop in bonded premiums to $60-$70 a tonne. China's mills have been supplementing their nickel ore stocks with shipments from the Philippines after Indonesia, formerly China's top supplier, banned exports in January. But the Philippine monsoon season from November to January has started denting its overseas sales.
"There are indications in China that material from the Philippines is drying up because of the monsoon. If true, you'd expect that to start to tighten things with the NPI guys," said Lachlan Shaw, analyst with Commonwealth Bank in Melbourne.
Comments
Comments are closed.