Japan Official Copper and Zinc Prices Stay High

Nippon Mining & Metals announced on Wednesday the firm raised the official copper ingot price by 10,000 yen to 980,000 yen per tonne for domestic shipment in June. The monthly average became to 978,500 yen. The latest price returned to the level as high as May 15.Overseas copper markets surged up with speculative purchasing when copper inventories decreased worldwide at warehouses of London Metal Exchange, New York Mercantile Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange and a strike was likely to occur at a copper mine in Mexico.NYMEX copper spot price was US 346.55 cents per pound on June 4, which almost returned to the level as high as US 353.35 cents on May 15. LME copper spot price was US$ 7,655 per tonne at settlement on June 5 which recovered the level as high as mid May.Mitsui Mining & Smelting announced on Wednesday the firm raised the official zinc ingot price by 14,000 yen to 507,000 yen per tonne for domestic shipment in June. The price exceeded 500,000 yen for the first time in 3 weeks to reflect the upsurge of overseas zinc market. The monthly average upped to 505,000 yen. LME zinc spot price sharply increased by US$ 40.5 to US$ 3,810.5 per tonne at settlement on June 5 from previous day to follow the steady tone of LME copper price.