LIVE FUTURES REPORT 29/04: LME copper cash price hits $10,000/t; 64kt aluminium delivery in Port Klang

Copper continues to drive the rest of the complex upward – the three-month price was trading $96 per tonne higher at $9,972 per tonne this morning.

It hit a high of $9,999.50 per tonne earlier; the all-time high for the three-month copper price was $10,190 per tonne, set on February 15, 2011.

But the copper cash price did surpass $10,000-per-tonne barrier this morning, trading at a high of $10,001.50 per tonne.

The cash/three-month spread is at $4.25 per tonne backwardation, compared with $30 per tonne backwardation last week.

“The US dollar index and 10-year treasury yield moved lower after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s dovish press conference was concluded. In his statement, Powell reiterated that it would take some time for substantial progress to be achieved and it is not time to talk about tapering,” Fastmarkets analyst Andy Farida said.

“We expect risk assets and commodity currencies to do well in the coming weeks and this should provide the LME base metals prices with additional support to venture higher,” he added.

The dollar index was at a low of 90.42 this morning, the lowest since February 26.

In big stock moves this morning, 64,650 tonnes of aluminium were delivered into LME warehouses in Port Klang, Malaysia. Prior to this, aluminium stocks had declined for 14 consecutive trading days in row.

Conversely, 30,500 tonnes were freshly cancelled in Singapore. Total LME aluminium stocks now sit at 1.8 million tonnes, of which 32% is currently booked for delivery out.

“Aluminium stock movements continue to be crazy this year but as always the price does its own thing. The market is so bullish at the moment and demand is strong,” a trader said.

The three-month aluminium price continues to trade above $2,400 per tonne, up by $24.50 per tonne this morning at $2,424.50 per tonne.

“Aluminum on the SHFE advanced to an almost 13-year high on continuous worries about Chinese supplies amid stricter environmental policy,” Marex Spectron’s LME Desk analyst Anna Stablum said,adding that the June aluminium contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose to 18,925 yuan ($2,918) per tonne – the most since August 4, 2008.

Other highlights

• The LME three-month tin price hit a high of $28,780 per tonne this morning, the highest since August 2011.
• Supply disruption continues to support tin prices; on Wednesday, the world’s third-largest tin producer, Malaysia Smelting Corp told suppliers that it would not return to its pre-pandemic smelting capacity until the end of 2021.
• The three-month zinc price hit a fresh year-to-date high of $2,975.50 per tonne this morning.
• Key economic data out on Thursday includes Germany’s preliminary consumer price index (CPI), import prices and unemployment change, Spanish CPI and unemployment rate, the European Union’s M3 money supply and private loans, with US data on gross domestic product, GDP prices, initial jobless claims and pending home sales.