SMM News on April 28:
As of Monday, April 28, copper inventories in SMM's mainstream regions across China fell by 26,600 mt WoW from last Friday to 155,100 mt. Compared to the inventory changes from last Friday, all regions across the country experienced destocking. Total inventories were 232,800 mt lower than the 387,900 mt recorded in the same period last year, with Shanghai's inventories 155,700 mt lower YoY, Guangdong's 27,300 mt lower, and Jiangsu's 40,300 mt lower.
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Specifically, inventories in Shanghai decreased by 15,800 mt from last Thursday to 112,000 mt, while those in Jiangsu fell by 6,400 mt to 17,200 mt. Despite the arrival of imported copper in east China, downstream enterprises showed strong enthusiasm for stockpiling ahead of the holiday, leading to a significant decline in regional inventories. In Guangdong, inventories dropped by 4,300 mt to 20,800 mt. Recently, arrivals in Guangdong have remained low, and consumption has been robust, as reflected by the continuous record-high daily average outflows from warehouses in the region this year.
Looking ahead, the arrival of imported copper is expected to decline slightly after the holiday, while domestic copper supply is not anticipated to increase significantly, suggesting that total supply will remain tight post-holiday. On the consumption side, downstream stockpiling ahead of the holiday was moderate. According to our survey, the weekly operating rate of copper cathode rods is expected to reach 81.81% this week, up 2.25 percentage points WoW. However, some enterprises are expected to take 1-2 days off during the Labor Day holiday, and consumption is anticipated to weaken during that period. Therefore, we believe that the week will see tight supply and increased consumption, with inventories continuing to decline. However, after the holiday, a situation of weak supply and demand is expected to emerge, and the pace of inventory decline will slow.
