Sellers of spot copper cathode cut offers on the morning of Friday May 8 as they were keen to cash in while a further rally in copper futures sidelined downstream consumers. 

Stringent coronavirus containment measures imposed by world authorities in March began to take their toll on supply of imported copper scrap in China, which accounts for about 60% of copper scrap consumption in the country, showed the latest SMM survey.

Demand remained subdued in China’s cobalt market last week while a handful of consumers purchased as required. The market may find some near-term support from the extended national lockdown of South Africa, which will last until end April and aim to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.  

SHFE nonferrous metals rose across the board on Friday, as market sentiment was rallied after China’s Ministry of Finance pledged to make an early allocation of the special-purpose bond quotas for transportation infrastructure construction. 

Stocks of copper across Shanghai bonded area declined for the second consecutive week as of April 3, falling 5,200 mt from a week ago to 333,800 mt, showed SMM data.

Social inventories of copper cathode in south China’s Guangdong province continued to trend downsides, falling for the fourth consecutive week as of Friday April 3. 

The state-owned China Southern Power Grid company has planned to accelerate its investment in new energy vehicle charging facilities in the coming years, as part of the move to develop "new infrastructure" projects for boosting sustainable growth of the economy. 

The work resumption rate for businesses in Wuhan, Hubei province, the epicentre of the COVID-19 in China, has increased to 85.4%, with the resumption rate for workers reaching 40.4%, said local authorities on Wednesday April 1. 

Trades of spot copper in Shanghai moderated from the previous day on the morning of Wednesday April 1 as downstream consumers and traders hesitated over the elevated premiums and futures prices and slowed purchases.

This is in response to the central government’s call to build "new infrastructure" projects to counter the economic fallout due to the coronavirus and boost the country's economy in the long term. New infrastructure, different from traditional infrastructure construction such as railways, roads, and airports, can be understood as new public facilities serving the needs of new industrialisation.