LME Copper Prices Swing Wildly Amid Stable Overseas Copper Scrap Indicator
The London Metal Exchange (LME) copper prices have been experiencing wild fluctuations in recent times. This week, LME copper opened at $14,570/mt on Monday and shot up before pulling back mid-week to consolidate around $14,600/mt.
The LME payable indicator for overseas copper scrap remained stable this week, with no notable adjustments despite the copper price fluctuations. Both the upside and downside room for the overseas copper scrap LME indicator is somewhat constrained due to tight supply and high prices.
Tight supply has limited available cargo in the market, while some downstream enterprises have stockpiling demand ahead of China's National Day holiday, providing support for the payable indicator. However, with copper prices staying high, downstream consumers' acceptance of the current copper scrap payable indicator has approached a stage high, leaving relatively limited room for further price increases.
In terms of transactions, some downstream enterprises have restocking demand before the holiday, and overseas suppliers' willingness to sell increased somewhat due to rising copper prices. However, with absolute copper prices and the copper scrap payable indicator both at highs, downstream enterprises face high procurement costs and have limited willingness to actively increase inventory.