Reuters reported that US copper cathode premiums edged further down to a 4 to 4.5 cent range this week, under pressure from waning growth prospects and annual term contract bookings that are still fulfilling most consumer needs.

They said but sellers have noticed an increase in requests for cathode from customers seeking a better opportunity to own metal following this week's dramatic sell-off in the futures market.

One Midwest cathode dealer said "I'd say that overall things are extremely slow prior to going into this week. People's annual contracts are probably keeping them pretty well supplied and have not needed to go into the spot market."

One Midwest cathode dealer said "You might see some of that spot business coming in due to this fall-off in the price. We had some inquiries as a result of the massive price reduction in the terminal markets."

Another dealer said "The people that would be looking for material are very targeted not large volumes. At this price, they are saying I want to own some for anticipated future orders. But as a weaker macro picture continued to hang over the broader market, many consumers remained content to run down their internal inventories.”

One trader said "The merchant isn't doing any spot business and the reason for that is the dynamic between the heavy booking of annual contracted material and expectations that were foiled, economically."

Those expectations were dampened further this week after the Federal Reserve came out of its policy-setting meeting this week with a warning of significant downside risks to the economy.

(Sourced from Reuters)