Year to date, China’s copper inventory is significantly lower than that of the same period in the past decade. At the beginning of 2022, China’s copper inventory was only 29000 tons, the lowest since 2012. Although the copper inventory increased significantly after the Spring Festival, it once hit the lowest value in the same period of the past decade; However, after mid March, copper inventories fell significantly. As of May 15, the national copper inventory was 55000 tons, only 60% of the lowest value in the past decade (91000 tons).
Copper inventories outside Shanghai fell significantly. As China’s commodity trade center, Shanghai’s copper inventory accounts for more than half of the country (70.8% in 2021). After the middle of March this year, the epidemic sealing and control measures in Shanghai have become stricter, which has affected the efficiency of the raw material supply chain, including copper, to a certain extent. Copper inventories in neighboring provinces (Zhejiang and Jiangsu) fell significantly, with year-on-year declines of 95.2% and 98.4% respectively in early May. In contrast, copper inventories in Shanghai in early May fell by 69.5% year-on-year, lower than the national level (75.4%). We expect that after the opening of Shanghai, the resumption of supply chain will alleviate the downward trend of copper inventory outside Shanghai.
