Copper Inventory in Major Chinese Markets Adds 18,200 mt from Monday

SHANGHAI, Dec 30 (SMM) - As of Friday December 30, SMM copper inventory across major Chinese markets stood at 97,900 mt, up 18,200 mt from Monday and 21,700 mt from last Friday, which is the highest inventory level in the past three weeks. In detail, the inventory in Shanghai grew 16,500 mt, the inventory in Guangdong rose 1,100 mt, the inventory in both Sichuan and Chongqing added 100 mt, the inventory in Tianjin increased 500 mt, while the inventory in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Jiangxi remained unchanged.
The continuous rise in copper prices this week suppressed the downstream companies’ buying interest, and the spreading COVID-19 outbreaks cast a huge impact on consumption. The inventory in Guangdong rose this week, but the total inventory was still at a low level in December, because the imported copper did not flow into the market intensively and the downstream consumption was poor. SMM survey showed that some goods were directly transferred from east China to factories in Guangdong during the week. At the year-end, consumption enthusiasm in various places cooled down, hence the inventories in some places did not change much.
Looking forward, SMM expects that the arrivals of imported copper will still be limited next week, and the downstream consumption is unlikely to boom, hence the inventory will edge higher.