Cathode spot markets subdued as scrap excess continues

摘要

Spot markets for refined copper cathode remain extremely subdued with quotes in all the major consumingmarkets at or near 2016 lows. In Europe, spot premiums for grade A material cif Rotterdam are subject to awide gap between bids and offers, and we have lowered the quoted range in our series by $5/t m-o-m. Inthe USA, numbers for delivered Grade A material have effectively converged on 2017 long-term contractterms in and around 5?/lb depending on the region. Moreover, any upside continues to be limited by theComex-LME arbitrage, which is currently positive along the whole of the forward curve including the activemonth (March). Meanwhile, in China the premium for imported dollar ER cathodes has fallen by around$10/t over the last month to $50-60/t, with buying interest waning ahead of the New Year holiday.