Copper tracks LME price surge
Hindustan Copper sets a record one-time hike of over Rs 18,500 a tonne
| With the current upward price revision, cathode full is selling at Rs 2,23,400 per tonne, while cathode cut is quoting at Rs 2,24,900 per tonne. Besides, while the 8mm variety of CC rod is selling at Rs 2,28,400 per tonne, the above 11mm rod is quoting at Rs 2,30,400 per tonne. Further, wire bar full is currently selling at Rs 2,31,700 per tonne against Rs 2,12,900 per tonne last month. |
| The company raised the final prices for November in tandem with provisional prices for December. The November final prices of copper cathode full and cut are settled at Rs 2,30,956 per tonne and Rs 2,32,456 per tonne, respectively, compared with Rs 2,15,665 per tonne and Rs 2,17,165 per tonne respectively in October. |
| CC rods 8mm and 16mm for November are settled finally at Rs 2,36,210 per tonne and Rs 238,308 per tonne, respectively, vis-a-vis Rs 2,20,806 per tonne and Rs 2,22,862 per tonne, respectively, in October. Wire bar full went up by about Rs 15,000 per tonne in November and settled finally at Rs 2,39,619 per tonne against Rs 2,24,148 per tonne in October. |
| The current hike in copper prices has been attributed chiefly to unexpected rise in copper prices on the London Metal Exchange, where the red metal, spurred by speculative and fund buying, is scaling a new high almost every day. |
| Despite a substitution threat in its uses, copper prices continue to rise, as copper consumption has been witnessing spectacular growth not only in India but also in China. |
| Moreover, In China, the secondary copper producers are now shifting their focus on to and banking more on direct use of copper. As per estimates, the direct use of copper scrap in the country is expected to jump to 8,53,000 tonne by 2005-end and further to 9,20,000 tonne in 2006, from 3,72,000 tonne in 2001. |
| If the National Development and Reform Commission "" China's economic planning agency "" is to be believed, then the country's refined copper consumption should rise 6.1 per cent to 3.50 million tonne this year. |
| However, analysts put expected consumption rise higher at 6.6 per cent, to 3.532 million tonne. |
| Traders are currently bullish despite that International Copper Study Group (ICSG) reported surplus reserves in August this year. The ICSG report said the world refined copper market was in surplus of 85,000 metric tonne in August, the first monthly production surplus of 2005. |
| However, traders are perhaps a trifle worried over the availability of copper because of production disruption in Chile. |
| "China is heading towards selling 20,000 tonne copper through auction. Still, copper market is not going to look back. However, a correction cannot be ruled out," a trader said. |