Shanghai copper stocks at highest since Aug '02

Copper inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose to their highest in nearly a decade, data showed yesterday, suggesting oversupply in top copper consumer China where demand has been slower than expected.

Many had expected Chinese copper demand to rebound after the Lunar New Year break in January, but a slower domestic economy and strains from a prolonged debt crisis in Europe cut its appetite for the industrial metal.

Stockpiles of copper in Shanghai warehouses rose 2.5 per cent to 221,487 tonnes, weekly data from the exchange showed, the highest level since early August 2002.

The first time Shanghai copper stocks hit near-decade highs was in mid-February, before dropping about 1,000 tonnes to 216,086 tonnes last week.

 

“There is significant oversupply in the Chinese market. Import levels are running very high and demand is not as good as it could be,” said Nick Trevethan, senior commodities strategist at Australia and New Zealand Bank. Importers of refined copper in China have delayed some February-March shipments and diverted some cargoes to South Korea due to weak demand, traders said.