SMM Morning Comment For Copper Market (Feb 19)

SHANGHAI, Feb 19 (SMM) – LME copper opened at $8395/mt last Friday night, with its session high at $8499.5/mt before closing up 1.8% at $8472/mt. Trading volume was 23,000 lots and open interest stood at 294,000 lots. SHFE was closed due to the Spring Festival holiday. On the macro side, due to the large drop in copper inventory levels at LME registered warehouses, LME copper price rose. China's Spring Festival holiday is over and the market has begun to gradually resume normal trading. The expectation that demand will begin to recover has also boosted copper prices. In terms of fundamentals, the domestic inventory level during the Spring Festival in 2024 was weaker than in previous years, and social inventories are also at a low level compared with previous years, but this will not have a major impact on the supply of copper after the holiday. In terms of consumption, since processing companies have stocked up before the holiday, demand is expected to recover slowly after the holiday. In terms of price, driven by the gradual return to normal sentiment in the domestic market, copper prices are expected to recover slightly.