MRW : Scrap copper price falls in response to market uncertainty

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Last week, the price of copper looked as though it was going to stay up, recovering after a drop as a result of uncertainty in the market following floods in Japan.

Copper values on the LME fell earlier this week to $9,373 per tonne, down from $9,500 a week earlier. Scrap traders, meanwhile, reported copper prices coming off, with one saying it has come off by around £250 a tonne in the past week: “Our prices react to the market. There doesn’t seem to be a particular reason why the prices have dropped it might just be market speculation and uncertainty always affects the markets more.

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“Recently we have noticed that the copper value swings up in the middle of the month and tends to swing down towards the end of the month. I’m pretty confident copper won’t stay down at these levels for long.”

According to reports, China’s demand for copper has been curbed by the Government’s efforts to ‘cool’ its economy. February saw a drop of 12% in copper imports.

However, as copper has fallen off, the price of lead has strengthened, reaching a three year high of $2,772 per tonnes earlier this week, up from $2,625 a week before. This seems to be caused by tight supplies.