Copper inventories in major regions across the country increased by 2,700 mt over the weekend [SMM weekly data].

SMM March 31 News: As of Monday, March 31, SMM's national mainstream copper inventories increased by 2,700 mt WoW to 337,200 mt. Compared to the inventory changes from last Friday, only Shanghai saw destocking, while other regions experienced inventory increases. The total inventory was 54,000 mt lower YoY than the 391,200 mt recorded in the same period last year, with Shanghai down 31,300 mt, Guangdong down 7,300 mt, and Jiangsu down 9,400 mt. Click to apply for access to the SMM metal industry chain database. Specifically, Shanghai's inventory decreased by 7,700 mt WoW to 218,700 mt, as both imported and domestic copper arrivals were limited over the weekend, with some shipments redirected to South China. Jiangsu's inventory rose by 1,800 mt WoW to 59,600 mt, primarily due to increased arrivals and weakened consumption. Guangdong's inventory surged by 8,500 mt to 51,700 mt, driven by concentrated arrivals from east China and persistently weak consumption, as reflected by the low daily average outflows from warehouses. Looking ahead, recent imported copper arrivals are expected to remain limited, and domestic copper arrivals will also be scarce, indicating that supply will likely stay tight this week. On the consumption side, some downstream users are replenishing stocks ahead of the Qingming holiday. According to our survey, the weekly operating rate for refined copper rod reached 71.35%, up 7.29 percentage points WoW. Therefore, we anticipate a scenario of tight supply and increased consumption this week, leading to a renewed decline in inventories.