The weekly Davis Index for copper ingots settled at $4,638/mt cif China port, Thursday, marginally up by $25/mt, driven by a $20/mt increase in the official three-month LME copper contract.
Trades, however, remained thin as LME copper prices remained under pressure making sales for ingot manufacturers unviable. Demand from China for semi-finished copper and brass products increased in the past week after manufacturing activity continued to expand post the COVID-19 shutdown. Chinese buyers faced difficulties finding sellers as India, their trade partner for copper ingot remains under lockdown. Sellers from other Asian countries looked for higher realisation than bids China.
The Davis Index for imported Elmo remained unchanged at $596/mt cfr India port and at $579/mt cfr Pakistan port from a week ago with no activity amid lockdowns. The weekly index for Berry settled at $4,675/mt cfr India port, up by $18/mt. The index for Berry/Candy settled at $4,573/mt cfr India port, up by $9/mt and the index for Birch/Cliff settled at $4,186/mt cfr India port, up by $4/mt.
The official three-month LME copper contract settled at $4,787/mt, Wednesday, up by 0.43pc from a week ago on the back of a 16.3 point increase in China’s March manufacturing purchasing manager’s index from the previous month.