LIVE FUTURES REPORT 15/09: LME stock deliveries weigh on SHFE copper prices

Copper prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) managed a small uptick during Asian morning trading on Friday September 15, helped by a slightly weaker dollar, but prices remain under pressure due to the large stock deliveries to London Metal Exchange warehouses seen through the week.

The SHFE’s most-active November copper contract inched up 90 yuan to 50,470 yuan ($7,717) per tonne as of 03:26 BST, compared with the previous day’s close.

The dollar’s rebound has halted for now – at 92.09 as of 04:34 BST, it is below Thursday’s rebound high of 92.66, lending some slight support to the base metals.

However, large copper stock deliveries into London Metal Exchange-listed warehouses this week has kept red metal prices under pressure. LME copper stocks increased a net 29,420 tonnes to 276,025 tonnes on Thursday. Total copper stocks on the LME are now up 26% since Tuesday.

Lead, zinc and nickel higher; aluminium, tin drop

  • The SHFE November zinc contract rose 315 yuan to 24,960 yuan per tonne.
  • The SHFE January nickel contract was up 400 yuan to 88,800 yuan per tonne.
  • The SHFE November aluminium contract declined 115 yuan to 16,475 yuan per tonne.
  • The SHFE October lead contract dropped 300 yuan to 19,605 yuan per tonne.
  • The SHFE January tin price edged lower 70 yuan to 144,300 yuan per tonne.


Currency moves and data releases

  • The dollar index was up 0.1% at 92.09 as of 04:34 BST.
  • In other commodities, the Brent crude oil spot price was up 0.02% to $55.28 per barrel, while the Texas light sweet crude oil spot price decreased 0.02% to $49.72.
  • In equities, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.31% to 3,360.84.
  • In data released on Thursday, US headline CPI inflation was modestly stronger than expected in August, at 0.4% month on month (1.9% year on year), while core CPI rose 0.2% month on month (1.7% year on year). US weekly unemployment claims came in at 284,000, compared with an expected and previous reading of 303,000 and 298,000, respectively.
  • The Bank of England (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee voted 7-2 to leave rates unchanged at 0.25%, but stated that it may need to adjust policy “over the coming months.”
  • The economic agenda is busy today with the EU’s trade balance, the UK’s BoE quarterly bulletin and CB leading index as well as a host of US data including retail sales, the Empire State manufacturing index, capacity utilisation rate, industrial production and preliminary University of Michigan consumer sentiment.

LME snapshot at 0327 London time
Latest 3M  LME Prices
  Price ($/t)  Change since yesterday’s close ($)
Copper 6,530 32
Aluminium 2,103 5
Lead 2,340 33
Zinc 3,044 38
Tin      –
Nickel 11,235 35
SHFE snapshot at 0326 London time
Most traded SHFE contracts
  Price (yuan/t)  Change since yesterday’s close (yuan)
Copper  50,470 90
Aluminium 16,475 -115
Zinc 24,960 315
Lead 19,605 -300
Tin  144,300 -70
Nickel  88,800 400

Changjiang spot snapshot on Friday September 15
  Range (yuan/t)  Change (yuan)
Copper  50,470—50,510 -100
Aluminium 16,170—16,210 -60
Zinc 25,480—26,280 140
Lead 20,000—20,200 50
Tin  142,500—144,000 -250
Nickel  88,550—88,950 -1,900
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