Japan Copper, Zinc and Lead Ingot Price Unchanged for September

Nippon Mining & Metals announced on Friday the firm set official copper ingot price at 940,000 yen per tonne for domestic shipment in September, unchanged from the end of August. Mitsui Mining & Smelting announced on Friday the firm set official zinc ingot price unchanged at 439,000 yen per tonne for domestic shipment in September. Mitsubishi Materials announced on the same day the firm set official lead ingot price unchanged at 184,000 yen per tonne.The official copper price was expected to decrease by 20,000-30,000 yen per tonne on September 1 when copper settlement price at London Metal Exchange temporarily declined to US$ 7,421 per tonne during the last week of August, the lowest level in a month.LME copper settlement price sharply rebounded by US$ 187 to US$ 7,647 on August 31 from the previous day following the surge of crude oil and precious metals markets, despite of the expectation the strike at Escondida mine of Chile would be settled soon.Japanese official price also reflected weaker yen against US dollar. The telegraphic transfer selling rate was 118.4 yen per US dollar on Friday, the level as cheap as 118.72 yen on April 27.Japanese smelters’ breakeven point with imported copper ore is estimated to be above 948,000 yen per tonne based on NY kerb on Thursday, which represented US$ 7,647.5 per tonne for LME cash price. The estimated price exceeds 940,000 yen of the latest official price by near 10,000 yen.