SHANGHAI, Dec 23 (SMM) - As of Friday December 23, SMM copper inventory across major Chinese markets dipped 5,700 mt from Monday to 76,200 mt, down 18,100 mt from last Friday, a new low since the National Day holiday in 2022. In detail, the inventory in Shanghai dropped 3,700 mt to 48,300 mt, down 11,900 mt from the same period last year when the figure was 60,200 mt, the inventory in Guangdong fell 2,500 mt to 3,600 mt, the inventory in Zhejiang dropped 100 mt to 4,300 mt, the inventory in Jiangxi, Tianjin, Sichuan and Chongqing remained unchanged, while the inventory in Jiangsu rose slightly.
In east China, the arrivals of imported copper were much lower than the shipments flowing out of the warehouses in the region. In Shanghai, the fall in copper prices at the beginning of the week boosted the downstream purchases, while the surging prices in mid-week suppressed the downstream companies’ buying interest. Therefore, the shipments flowing out of the warehouses in Shanghai increased compared with the recent average level. The Guangdong market witnessed zero arrivals of domestic copper and limited arrivals of imported copper, while the downstream companies maintained normal restocking, thus the inventory in Guangdong dropped.
SMM believes that the arrivals of imported copper will not balloon this week when New Year's Day is coming near. The spot transactions will be hindered by the rise in COVID-19-infected cases in China, which will slightly push up the inventory.
