Japanese Market Indicators Up for Cu and Zn, Down for Pb

Nippon Mining & Metals announced on Thursday the firm sets the selling price of electrolytic copper ingot price, the domestic market indicator, at 770,000 yen per tonne for domestic shipment in April. The price was raised by 40,000 yen from the end of March and hit the yearly highest since early January. The latest price is higher by 57,800 yen than the monthly average in March and returned the high level of 18 months ago.

Copper spot price (settlement) at London Metal Exchange (LME) was US$ 7,830 per tonne on March 31st, which surged by 25% from the recent bottom on February 5th and hit the yearly highest since January 11th. The settlement reached US$ 7,800 for the first time since late August of 2008.

As to the exchange market, telegraphic transfer selling rate was 94.43 yen per US dollar on Thursday, weakening by about 1 yen from March 29th when Nippon Mining & Metals previously revised the ingot price.

Mitsui Mining & Smelting set the selling price of electrolytic zinc ingot, the domestic market indicator, at 265,000 yen per tonne for domestic shipment in April. The price was revised up by 15,000 yen from the end of March to reflect higher LME zinc price and weaker yen exchange rate. LME zinc settlement increased by US$ 32.5 to US$ 2,360 per tonne on March 31st from the previous day.

On the other hand, Mitsubishi Materials set the selling price of electrolytic lead ingot at 243,000 yen per tonne, unchanged from the end of March. LME lead settlement decreased by US$ 17 to US$ 2,120 per tonne on March 31st from the previous day. The firm didn’t raise the ingot price due to weak LME lead price though the yen exchange rate weakened.