Market Survey on Copper - Indian Bureau of Mines

Chapter 5. Prices
Copper metal is traded in the forms of copper cathodes, copper anodes, blister
copper wire bars, wire rods, cement copper and scrap. Copper ores and concentrates
are also traded in the market. Copper scrap is traded in the forms like heavy scrap,
utensil scrap etc. as per the norms laid down by ISRI. The norms of ISRI are given in
Annexure: 3 - III. The copper alloys such as brass, bronze and other alloys are also
traded in the form of articles and artifacts.
There are many factors which affect the prices of copper amongst which purity
of copper, and percentages of deleterious constituents are very important. Another
important factor which influences the prices of copper is economic growth of the
major consuming countries such as China, USA, Japan, Germany etc. and growth and
development in the infrastructure, real estate, telecom and electrical industries. The
demand and supply position of copper is another factor which decides the trend in
copper prices. Transportation cost, export and import duties also have influence on
copper prices.
Copper as any other merchandise, is traded between producers and consumers.
Producers sell their present and future production to buyers. Copper is traded in two
ways. One of the very important ways of trading copper is the settlement price for the
present day which is known as 'Spot Price' and the other way of trading is settlement
of price for future days. The commodity exchanges play an important role in the
trading of copper. These exchanges facilitate to make a transparent settlement of
prices. There are many international commodity exchanges where copper is traded.
Among them the London Metal Exchange (LME) is the most important.
In the exchanges prices are settled by bid and offer. These prices reflect the
perception of demand and supply of copper on a particular day. The London Metal
Exchange is the most important exchange. In LME copper is traded in lots of 25
tonnes and the prices are quoted in US dollars per tonne. The exchanges also provide
facilities to trade in future contracts. The future contract defines the size of lot quality
of the product, delivery dates and other important details of the trading process.
Copper is also traded directly between the manufacturer and the consumer of
copper. Consumers directly place their requirements to manufacturers and the price is
negotiated between the two parties.
5.1 DOMESTIC MARKET PRICES:
Copper is also traded in the domestic markets. There are two major markets of
copper on domestic front namely Delhi and Mumbai. The prices in both these
markets are quoted in Rupees per quintal and the grades are named as wire rod, wire
bar, cathode etc. scrap is traded as wire scrap and utensil scrap. The prices of all
grades of copper for last ten years in the domestic market are given in Table: 5.1. The
average monthly prices of Copper Wire, Rods and Wire Bars (BME) and average
monthly prices of copper Heavy Utensils Scrap (BME) are given at Annexure:5-I
and Annexure: 5-II respectively.
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