Copper Inventory across Major Chinese Markets Fell 8,500 mt on Week

SHANGHAI, Sep 24 (SMM) – As of Friday September 24, copper inventory across major Chinese markets plunged 8,500 mt from a week earlier to 103,500 mt, the lowest for the year, according to SMM data.

Only Chongqing saw a slight increase of 300 mt in inventory this week. Inventories fell across all other regions. And the largest decline was seen in Shanghai, which is 3,700 mt, followed by Jiangsu, where inventories fell by 2,500 mt.

Shipments arrivals of imported copper in east China after the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday were limited. Some companies have begun to restock for the National Day holiday without significant impact from power rationing. As such, inventories in the region continued to decline.

Inventories in Guangdong increased at one point, and fell this past week. Affected by the power rationing, local demand weakened noticeably. But arriving shipments did not increase.

We expect that the inventory will fall next week in view of downstream pre-holiday stockpiling and the absence of significant increase in supply. Pay attention to whether the impact of power rationing across China will expand after the holiday. The inventory may gradually increase once the impact is significant.