Asia contracts see modest uplift

摘要

China import premiums continued to decline through the first half of December, reflecting a closed arbitrage, with ER cathode at $50-55 /t CIF Shanghai mid-month. Higher copper prices have seen a decline in order activity from semis mills this month. Visible stocks in China have increased by 15,000 t to 115,500 t in the first half of December, with China bonded warehouse stocks increasing by 6,700 t and SHFE stocks up by 8,300 t. Available stocks in Asia region LME warehouses remain low at just 2,000 t. We note that seasonality related to Chinese New Year typically sees refined copper stocks in China bottom late in the year and increase through to March of the following year.