According to SMM data, as of Monday, December 4, copper inventories in mainstream regions across China fell by 900 mt from last Friday to 54,000 mt, which is also 53,400 mt lower than in the same period last year.
Echoing the decline in SMM copper inventories, the copper inventory data of the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell by nearly 30% last week, setting a new low in more than 14 years.
Contrary to the continuous lows of copper inventories on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, LME copper inventories have been hovering at high levels, with the latest data on December 4 being 174,900 mt.
This situation is attributed to the fact that domestic copper consumption is better than overseas. The weak European copper consumption has led to massive delivery to LME European warehouses. The recent appreciation of the RMB is beneficial to copper imports. Even under the expectation of increased copper imports, domestic copper market showed destocking, which further proves that domestic copper consumption is stronger than overseas.
Recently, as the U.S. dollar's current round of interest rate hikes has come to an end, the U.S. dollar index has recorded its worst monthly performance this year. Many domestic and overseas institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), are optimistic about China's economic prospects and have raised China's GDP growth for this year and 2024.
