China Overstock Causes LME Copper Inventory Increase

Copper inventory at warehouses registered to London Metal Exchange increased by 3.5% in a week. The inventory in South Korea increased, according to he market sources, due to the excess inventory flows from China when copper price at LME is higher than the price at Shanghai Futures Exchange.

The copper inventory at LME has been decreasing from the peak of 555,000 tonnes in late February when the demand increased in Asia. The inventory decreased by around 35% through December from February. However, the inventory increased to around 360,000 tonnes from 348,000 tonnes in a recent week.

The increase in South Korean 3 warehouses accounted 70% of the total increase. The Korean inventory increased by around 20% to 48,600 tonnes in a week. The excess inventory flowed to South Korea from China, according to Japanese major trading firm source.

The copper price at SHFE was around US$ 8,500 per tonne while LME price was around US$ 9,000. The price gap encourages arbitrage trading to make profit by purchasing cheaper SHFE ingot and selling it at higher LME price.