Significant market concerns weighed on copper prices

LME copper closed at $8,295/mt last Friday evening, a drop of 0.64%. Trading volume was 18,000 lots and open interest stood at 270,000 lots. The most active SHFE 2309 copper contract prices finished at 68,080 yuan/mt last Friday evening, down 0.56%. Trading volume was 38,000 lots, and open interest stood at 164,000 lots.

On the macro front, it was announced last Friday that new RMB loans and social financing increments hit a seven-year low. In addition, with the possible debt restructuring of China's largest private real estate developer, Country Garden, the market's concerns about domestic real estate have also increased.

As of Friday August 11, SMM data showed that copper inventory across major Chinese markets stood at 92,500 mt, down 800 mt from last Monday but up 3,200 mt from two Fridays ago. Inventories have fallen for four consecutive weeks. Due to the gradual inflow of imported copper in east China, the inventory has increased; in south China, due to the improvement of consumption and the large price difference between Shanghai and Guangdong, some sources of goods have been shipped to the east China market, and the inventory has declined. Downstream purchases will decline to a certain extent as the delivery nears. In terms of prices, after the market digests domestic financial data, copper prices may rebound slightly.