Brass Bar Market Price Keeps Flat in Tokyo

Brass bar market price keeps flat with potential decrease around Tokyo. The market weakened when Japanese official copper ingot price, the indicator for copper rolled product prices, dropped down on 6 August. Dealers aim to keep wait-and-see stances within this week and sustain the brass bar price level.

Japanese official copper ingot price was revised down by 50,000 yen to 970,000 yen per tonne on 6 August, which became to below 1 million yen for the first time since 25 June. Japanese major brass bar makers’ purchasing price for brass turning scrap, the main material for brass bar, downed by 32 yen to 691 yen per kilogram on the same day.

On the other hand, dealers’ reselling price for brass bar keeps flat at 860-880 yen per kg in Tokyo. Most dealers expect the official copper ingot price might rebound soon and they should keep their reselling price for a week at least watching the fluctuation of copper metal price. Dealers cannot reduce the reselling price easily with inventories based on 1-million-yen copper price.

Brass bar shipment is stagnant especially for spot demand. Dealer source said the demand is low mainly for industrial equipment and gas appliances. Some dealers are concerned that brass bar market price might drop down if the shipment maintains weak in September.