Copper inventories in the domestic bonded zone increased

Copper inventories in the domestic bonded zone increased 3,700 mt from January 26 to 13,700 mt as of Friday February 1, according to the latest SMM survey. Inventory in the Shanghai bonded zone grew 3,700 mt to 12,300 mt, and inventory in the Guangdong bonded zone held flat. Inventories experienced a slight seasonal increase during the week, with import losses against the front-month contract reaching around 800 yuan/mt, severely suppressing the demand for customs declaration for imports. Shipments under warehouse warrants were extremely limited. At present, domestic smelters lack export motivation as the break-even point for export has not been reached, and only a small amount of supply will be exported to bonded warehouses. The CNY will hamper logistics and time costs be high. The actual export will occur after the CNY holidays.