Hong Kong
China’s buyers of refined copper have reduced purchases of spot metal at home this week after domestic prices rose near 4 percent and local demand is not expected to rise strongly in the near term amid a slow economy.
Traders in China said lower purchases of spot refined copper in the domestic market were adding pressure on already sluggish demand for imports, which could cap recent gains on the London Metal Exchange (LME) copper prices.
Some sellers in China had been selling copper at discounts from the front-month copper contract of the Shanghai Futures Exchange since Tuesday, compared to premiums in the previous two weeks mostly, traders said.
Chinese prices of spot refined copper stood at around 46,120 yuan per ton on Wednesday versus about 44,395 yuan at the end of April.
