Copper inventories in major regions across the country dropped significantly by 36,900 mt over the weekend [SMM weekly data].

SMM April 21 News: As of Monday, April 21, SMM's national mainstream copper inventories decreased by 36,900 mt WoW to 196,500 mt. Compared to the inventory changes last Friday, only Chongqing saw a slight increase, while other regions experienced destocking. Total inventories were 207,200 mt lower YoY than the 403,700 mt recorded in the same period last year, with Shanghai down 140,700 mt, Guangdong down 22,200 mt, and Jiangsu down 36,500 mt. Click to apply for access to the SMM Metal Industry Chain Database. Specifically, Shanghai's inventory decreased by 21,200 mt WoW to 135,100 mt, while Jiangsu's inventory fell by 6,900 mt WoW to 26,700 mt. Arrivals of both domestic and imported copper were limited over the weekend, but moderate downstream consumption led to a significant decline in east China's inventory. Guangdong's inventory dropped by 9,200 mt to 29,200 mt, with recent signs of accelerated destocking in the region. The inventory fell by nearly 10,000 mt in just two trading days, reflecting a record-high daily average outflows from warehouses in Guangdong this year. Looking ahead, although arrivals of imported copper are expected to increase WoW, domestic copper arrivals remain limited, and total supply is likely to remain tight. On the consumption side, driven by a narrow price difference between copper cathode and copper scrap and moderate end-user orders, current consumption remains steady. According to our survey, the weekly operating rate of copper cathode rod is expected to reach 79.97% this week, up 1.9 percentage points WoW and 9.29 percentage points YoY. Therefore, we anticipate a tight supply and increased consumption scenario this week, with inventories continuing to decline.