LME copper closed at $8,711/mt in overnight trading, a gain of 1.15%. Trading volume was 18,000 lots and open interest stood at 244,000 lots. The most active SHFE 2305 copper contract finished at 67,510 yuan/mt overnight, up 0.75%. Trading volume was 45,000 lots, and open interest stood at 150,000 lots. On the macro front, the US dollar index fell overnight as investors reacted to UBS’s low-priced acquisition of its troubled rival Credit Suisse and market worries were digested.
On the fundamentals, as of Monday March 20, SMM copper inventories in major Chinese markets decreased 7,500 mt from last Friday to 218,700 mt, down 43,700 mt from Monday March 13. This is up 22,100 mt from pre-CNY level. The destocking in east China over the weekend was mainly due to the sharp drop in copper prices last week and the active downstream replenishment of goods.
In addition, with the profitability of copper imports, the inflow of imported copper supplies in Shanghai increased over the weekend.
It is expected that there will still be continuous inflows of imported supplies this week, which may have a certain impact on spot quotes. It is expected copper prices will move narrowly.
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