Copper Futures Contract Prices Went Down Overnight

LME copper prices opened at $8438/mt and closed at $8450/mt in overnight trading, a drop of 0.49%, with the low-end of $8416.5/mt and the high-end of $8462/mt. Trading volume was 11,000 lots, and open interest stood at 283,000 lots. The most active SHFE 2310 copper contract prices opened at 69210 yuan/mt and finished at 69410 yuan/mt overnight, down 0.44%, with the low-end of 69150 yuan/mt and the high-end of 69410 yuan/mt. Trading volume was 19,000 lots and open interest stood at 162,000 lots.

On the macro front, no important data has been released in the United States. In Europe, its central bank president Lagarde still did not hint at how the European Central Bank will act next week in her latest speech, while ECB Governing Council member Centeno said there is a risk of "doing too much" on interest rates.

On Fundamentals, As of Monday September 4, SMM copper inventories across major Chinese markets stood at 96,700 mt, up 8,100 mt from last Friday and 21,600 mt higher from the same period last year. Inventories in east China increased due to increased copper imports, and downstream consumer demand has been weak due to high copper prices; inventories increased in south China due to the arrivals of domestically produced copper and poor consumption. Consumption can hardly recover in the near future. In terms of price, the market still needs to wait for more guidance, and it is expected that there will be limited room for copper price increases in the near future. The copper prices will remain at high levels.