Higher Zinc Price Supports Brass Bar Price in Tokyo

Zinc supports brass bar market in Tokyo instead of copper. The brass bar price is expected to be around 800 yen per kilogram in January, which is higher than averaged 732 yen per kg of official copper ingot price. The brass bar price exceeds copper ingot price for 2 months after December when official zinc ingot price keeps historical high level while copper price decreases. Such trend is expected to continue with tight supply of zinc ingot. Distributors’ selling price of brass bar with 25 millimeters diameter was 850 yen per kg in Tokyo in December, according to Tokyo Copper Alloy Products Distributors Association. The price exceeded official copper ingot price, which was averaged 836 yen per kg, for the first time since June 2005. The dealers reduce the brass bar price to around 800 yen per kg, which is 50 yen lower than December, though the association didn’t announce the price yet for January. The lower copper ingot price caused lower brass bar price. The official copper ingot price, which decreased by 110 yen in 2 weeks, decreased to averaged 723 yen per kg in January, which is the lowest level since April 2006. The brass bar price decreased by 6% compared with 14% drop for copper ingot price. The historical high level of zinc ingot price supports the brass bar price along with rolling makers’ hike for rolling margin in 2006 under firm demand. Japan Copper and Brass Association announced in November the industry revises the purchase price of brass turning scrap, which is indicator of brass bar price, when official zinc ingot price changes. The purchase price of the turning scrap reflected only copper ingot price before.