The London Metal Exchange three-month copper price was trading below $10,000 per tonne during morning trading on Thursday October 21, while the backwardation in the metal's cash/three-month spread had narrowed to below $300 per tonne.
This comes after the exchange
imposed a series of temporary measures designed to cool the market.
The three-month copper price was at $9,990 per tonne at 10am, down by $220 per tonne from Wednesday's close. The cash/three-month spread was at $295.55 per tonne backwardation, narrowing from
around $325 per tonne backwardation on Wednesday afternoon.On-warrant copper stocks in LME totaled 18,250 tonnes on Thursday, up from 17,875 tonnes a day earlier but still 84% lower than the level at the start of the month.
Switzerland-based Trafigura has found itself in the spotlight recently amid allegations of massive copper warrant cancellations in the market.
Trafigura issued a statement on Wednesday, saying the copper withdrawn was for delivery to customers, mainly in Asia and Europe, amid extremely tight market conditions.
LME prices for the other base metals were broadly down on Thursday morning. The three-month zinc price was down by 1.3% at $2,420.5 per tonne, while three-month aluminium fell by 1.2% to $3,059 per tonne.