Copper inventories in major regions across the country continued to accumulate over the weekend [SMM weekly data].

SMM January 19 News:

Data Review: As of Monday, January 19, SMM's national mainstream copper inventories increased 12.27% WoW, with total inventory up 219,600 mt YoY.

By region, Shanghai's copper cathode inventories continued to build WoW from Thursday, but the pace of accumulation narrowed; despite a pullback in copper prices, there were no clear signs of improvement in market consumption. Jiangsu inventories also continued to build, with the accumulation pace similarly narrowing, as end-user demand remained weak. Guangdong inventories saw limited overall change, with consumption showing a slight recovery, but inventory held steady due to increased supply of domestic copper.

Looking ahead, supply side, arrivals of imported copper showed marginal improvement, while domestic copper supply maintained a normal pace, keeping the overall supply landscape stable. Demand side, supported by lower copper prices, downstream purchasing sentiment recovered marginally, but the improvement was limited. According to our survey, this week's copper cathode rod operating rate is expected at 59.19%, up 1.72 percentage points WoW and up 4.02 percentage points YoY. Considering both supply and demand, the market this week is expected to show stable supply and marginally recovering consumption, with the weekly inventory buildup pace projected to narrow further.