This week, copper social inventories in major regions of China continued destocking [SMM weekly data].

SMM June 8:

Data Summary: As of Monday, June 8, SMM copper inventory in major regions across China fell WoW to 233,000 mt, up 83,500 mt from 149,500 mt in the same period last year.

Specifically, in Shanghai, warehouse withdrawals were steady, but arrivals of imported and domestic copper cathode stayed low, leading to steady destocking. In Jiangsu, insufficient arrivals pushed inventory down in tandem; in Guangdong, tight supply persisted, while weaker copper prices drove concentrated restocking by end-users, further reducing regional inventory.

Market Outlook: In the short term, arrivals of imported and domestic copper are likely to stay low, keeping overall supply tight. On the demand side, the recent pullback in copper prices has spurred downstream purchasing sentiment, with demand recovering. A survey shows that the operating rate of copper cathode rod is expected to decline to 61.32% this week, down 4.41 percentage points WoW. Based on supply-demand dynamics, with tight supply and recovering demand in the short term, China's social copper inventory is expected to see slight destocking next week.