LIVE FUTURES REPORT 19/01: SHFE copper stocks rise 5.3% vs last week; nickel inventories decline slightly

Copper recorded the biggest increase across the base metals over the past week, with SHFE deliverable stocks increasing by 8,804 tonnes or 5.3% to 176,233 tonnes as of Friday, in line with recent soft demand due to it being the traditionally weak season for red metal consumption.

Warehouses in the districts of Shanghai and Jiangsu recorded net increases of 6,125 tonnes and 4,257 tonnes respectively, while stocks in Guandong district declined by a net 1,578 tonnes.

The most-traded March copper contract on the SHFE closed at 53,710 yuan ($8,356) per tonne on Friday, down by 1,090 yuan per tonne from a week earlier when the contract closed at 54,800 yuan per tonne.

Metal Bulletin last assessed Shanghai-bonded copper stocks at 468,000-478,000 tonnes on January 15, up 3,000 tonnes from the number reported on January 2, the first assessment in 2018.

Meanwhile, the surge in SHFE nickel stocks has abated with inventories declining by 230 tonnes or 0.4% over the past week to 57,165 tonnes as of Friday.

Prior to this, SHFE nickel stocks had increased by 29.8% over the first two weeks of January, compared with 44,216 tonnes reported on December 29, 2017, mainly due to the tax policy changes implemented at the start of the year.

The most-traded May nickel contract on the SHFE closed at 96,830 yuan per tonne on January 19, down from 99,410 yuan per tonne on January 12.

Tin stocks down, rest higher

• SHFE aluminium stocks rose by 9,818 tonnes or 1.3% over the past week to stand at 783,759 tonnes.
• SHFE tin stocks dropped by 316 tonnes or 5.9% over the past week to 5,002 tonnes as of Friday.
• SHFE lead stocks increased by 3.4% or 1,433 tonnes week on week to 43,572 tonnes.
• Zinc stocks went up by 291 tonnes or 0.4% from a week ago to 79,342 tonnes.