The prices of copper Armature wire and Berry rose while that of copper Heavy, Sheet cutting and Turnings dropped in the domestic market, as participants reported shortage of few grades. Some also chose to step back from purchasing the scrap expecting prices to drop in the new year. Downstream manufacturers reported drop in margins as scrap material rose on the back of the strong three-month copper contract on LME.
The three-month LME Copper contract rose by $125/mt to settle at $7,848.5/mt on Dec 16 up from $7,723.5/mt Dec 9.
The weekly Davis Index for copper Armature wire settled at Rs531,333/mt del India consumer, up by Rs10,833/mt ($147.22/mt). Davis Index heard trades of copper Armature wire at Rs555,000/mt del India consumer around Mumbai, however, not all participants confirmed trades at these levels. Downstream manufacturers of scrap preferred buying copper armature wire from the domestic market as the imports of Honey of US-origin crossed $4,850/mt delivered India mark. Davis Index heard that brass manufacturers turned to market to buy armature wire to fulfil the domestic demand for brass billets.
The weekly Index for copper Berry rose by 5,833/mt to Rs556,333/mt del India consumer. Manufacturers importing copper Berry scrap preferred to rely on domestic scrap, whose prices in turn came under pressure for the third straight week.
The Davis Index for copper Heavy dropped by Rs9,667/mt and settled at Rs529,333/mt delivered India consumer.
The weekly Davis Index for copper Sheet Cutting dropped by Rs2,000/mt to settle at Rs520,667/mt from Rs522,667/mt del India consumer.
The weekly Davis Index for copper utensils settled unchanged at Rs500,000/mt, del India consumer while the index for copper Turnings settled at Rs492,500/mt del India consumer, down by Rs2,500/mt.
($1= Rs73.58)