Japan Official Copper and Zinc Prices Drop Down

Nippon Mining & Metals announced on Monday the firm revised down the official copper ingot price by 50,000 yen to 900,000 yen per tonne for domestic shipment in May. The latest price hit the lowest since 3 April. The monthly average would be 908,300 yen without any more revision within May, down by 41,700 yen due to the latest revision.Copper spot price at London Metal Exchange was US$ 8,291 per tonne at the purchasing price in afternoon trading on 9 May, which became the lowest since 26 March to reflect the increase of LME copper inventory. LME 3-month future price was US$ 8,175, which also hit the lowest since 20 February.The telegraphic transfer selling rate was 103.91 yen per US dollar on 12 May. US dollar became the strongest against Japanese yen since 18 April.Mitsui Mining & Smelting announced on Monday the firm revised down the official zinc ingot price by 10,000 yen to 265,000 yen per tonne for domestic shipment in May. The latest price hit the bottom since January 2006 to follow the decline of overseas nonferrous metal markets. The monthly average would be 266,700 yen without any more revision within May.