SHANGHAI, Jun 12 (SMM) – Discounts of spot copper cathodes in Shanghai continued to widen on the morning of June 12, as consumers withheld from purchasing on larger price spread of futures contracts before the expiry of the SHFE June contract, even as futures prices retreated after consecutive days of rally. 

The price spread between the SHFE front-month June contract and the July contract widened to more than 200 yuan/mt, leading to muted trades. Enquires by traders were active, but actual transactions were limited.

Subdued purchases coupled with the cash-in inclination of cargo holders, widened spot copper discounts, which came in at as low as 70 yuan/mt for standard-grade copper and at 60 yuan/mt for high-quality copper. These compared with discounts of 30-20 yuan/mt in early trades this morning. 

Hydro-copper was priced at a deeper discount of 100 yuan/mt, against the SHFE June contract, as of noon. 

The SHFE June copper contract followed its LME counterpart lower on Friday and pared gains from earlier session this week, ending the morning trading hours at 46,880 yuan/mt, down 0.89% on the day. 

As of noon on June 12, trades of high-grade copper occurred at 46,670-46,860 yuan/mt with standard-quality copper trading at 46,660-46,850 yuan/mt.