LIVE FUTURES REPORT 05/12: SHFE base metals mostly lower on profit-taking; copper prices down as longs liquidate

Base metal prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mostly lower during Asian morning trading on Tuesday December 5 amid bouts of year-end profit-taking, with copper prices falling as longs liquidate.

The most-traded January copper contract on the SHFE stood at 53,220 yuan ($8,038) per tonne as of 10.59am Shanghai time, down by 330 yuan from Monday’s close, with around 80,000 lots changing hands so far.

Open interest of the contract was at around 143,000 positions as of 10:05 am Shanghai time, down from 144,672 positions at Monday’s close.

Tight funds among investors typically at the end of the year could see liquidation and thinner trading at this time of the year, market observers noted.

The euphoria around US tax cuts could see investor demand for commodities weaken over coming days, ANZ Research noted on Tuesday as well.

On Sunday, the US Senate passing its tax reform bill had helped boost the equities and commodities markets on Monday. The House-Senate conference committee will now work to resolve the differences between the House and Senate tax bills.

Aluminium, lead edge higher; rest lower

  • The SHFE February aluminium contract price rose by 65 yuan to 14,710 yuan per tonne.
  • The SHFE May nickel contract price dipped by 1,240 yuan to 91,130 yuan per tonne.
  • The SHFE January lead contract price increased by 40 yuan to 18,990 yuan per tonne
  • The SHFE January zinc contract price slipped 205 yuan to 25,350 yuan per tonne.
  • The SHFE January tin contract price decreased by 300 yuan to 141,400 yuan per tonne.

Currency moves and data releases

  • The dollar index fell by 0.04% to 93.06 as of 11.08am Shanghai time.
  • In other commodities, the Brent crude oil spot price rose by 0.15% to $62.52 per barrel as of 11.08am Shanghai time.
  • In equities, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.03% to 3,307.87.
  • In Chinese data on Tuesday, the Caixin services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for November came in at 51.9, higher than expectations of 51.5 and up from 51.2 in October.
  • “New business expanded at a rapid pace while input costs and prices charged continued to rise… The Caixin PMI readings in November showed the economy has maintained stability and there was no imminent risk of a significant decline in its growth rate,” Zhengsheng Zhong, director of macroeconomic analysis at CEBM Group said.
  • In data from Monday, UK construction PMI for November came in at 53.1, above forecast of 51.2. US factory orders fell 0.1% in October – compared to growth of 1.7% in the previous month – but beat the forecast of a 0.3% decline.
  • A string of services PMI data from across Europe and the United States, as well as ISM non-manufacturing PMI and PBD/TIPP economic optimism from the US.

SHFE snapshot at 10.59am Shanghai time
Most-traded SHFE contracts
  Price
(yuan per tonne)
Change since yesterday’s close (yuan)
Copper (January) 53,220 -330
Aluminium (February) 14,710 65
Zinc (January) 25,350 -205
Lead (January) 18,990 40
Tin  (January) 141,450 -250
Nickel  (May) 91,130 -1,240

LME snapshot at 02.55am London time
Latest three-month LME Prices
  Price
($ per tonne)
Change since yesterday’s close ($)
Copper 6,818 -8
Aluminium 2,072 3
Lead 2,512 5
Zinc 3,232.50 9
Tin 19,485 -40
Nickel 11,290 -95

Changjiang spot snapshot on December 5
  Range
(yuan per tonne)
Change (yuan)
Copper  53,320-53,340 -30
Aluminium 14,400-14,440 210
Zinc 25,570-25,620 -190
Lead 18,900-19,100 -50
Tin  141,000-142,500 250
Nickel  91,400-91,600 200
What to read next
Asian spot copper premiums rose in the week ended Tuesday July 23, with premiums imported into China increasing on improved arbitrage terms. In the US market, supply failed to keep up with strong demand while in Europe participants were mostly off for the summer holidays
In the fourth episode of Fastmarkets critical minerals podcast Fast Forward, Freeport-McMoRan CEO and president Kathleen Quirk tells host Andrea Hotter why there's a preference to build and not build new supplies of copper right now
Demand for primary aluminium from the green transition remains a “brighter spot” for consumption amid an otherwise challenging downstream demand outlook, Eivind Kallevik, Norsk Hydro’s chief executive officer and president, told Fastmarkets in an exclusive interview on Tuesday July 23
Acquisition Company Limited (ACG) has agreed to buy the Gediktepe mine in Turkey — the company’s first deal as it works to build a sizeable mid-tier copper producer, its chairman and chief executive officer told Fastmarkets.
Copper market price speculation is driving the base metals narrative, head of research at UK-based services provider Sucden Financial Daria Efanova said during the company’s third-quarter metals webinar on Wednesday July 17.
Chinese mining giant CMOC reported a 178% year-on-year increase in cobalt metal production for the first six months of 2024, according to an announcement by the company on Friday July 12