May 1 LME inventory: zinc inventory up 3.52% tin storage 5.54%

[Shanghai spot copper] Looking ahead to tomorrow, buying sentiment in the Shanghai region continued to recover during the day, but market transactions remained dominated by flows between traders. Although some downstream players made just-in-time procurement, actual demand growth was relatively limited, and end-use consumption has not shown a significant improvement. Quotes for standard-quality copper were continuously lowered from a premium of around 350 yuan/mt in the early session to approximately 260 yuan/mt, after which transactions increased, reflecting the market's still low acceptance of high-premium cargoes. Suppliers still have the willingness to lower quotes to facilitate transactions. On the other hand, available cargoes of high-quality copper and non-registered copper were relatively scarce, coupled with the inter-month back price spread maintained at 310-350 yuan/mt, providing some support to quotes for certain brands. In summary, against the backdrop of traders' purchases providing some demand support but limited downstream procurement growth and strong willingness of suppliers to sell, spot copper prices against the SHFE 2609 contract are expected to remain at a premium tomorrow, with the overall center likely to continue shifting slightly downward.