Metals Exchange Inventories in China Decline: Copper, Aluminium, and Nickel Stocks Fall

Metals – Exchange inventories decline in China

Recent data from the Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) shows that weekly inventories for all base metals fell over the last week. Copper stocks fell by 10,981 tonnes over the week to 54,165 tonnes, aluminium fell 14,377 tonnes to 90,293 tonnes, while nickel inventories declined by 11.8% WoW to 4,900 tonnes.

The latest LME data shows that total on-warrant stocks for aluminium reported outflows of 26,475 tonnes - the largest daily decline since 18 August. The majority of the outflows were reported in Gwangyang, South Korea and Port Klang, Malaysia warehouses. Meanwhile, cancelled warrants for aluminium rose by 25,225 tonnes for a second straight session to 277,625 tonnes at the end of last week, signalling potential further outflows.

The latest positioning data from the CFTC shows that managed money net longs in COMEX gold increased by 16,843 lots over the last week to 66,639 lots as of 19 September. The move higher was predominantly driven by short covering with the gross short falling by 11,419 lots. Meanwhile, speculators increased their net short in COMEX copper by 2,068 lots to 5,836 lots.