Copper stocks in bonded warehouses in Shanghai fell slightly in October as a number of major importers looked to use up their annual quotas, and zinc and nickel inventories also decreased due to increased import activity after the arbitrage window opened, while aluminum stocks were flat.
Copper stocks in October fall amid buying activity by major importers Shanghai-bonded copper stocks declined for the fifth consecutive month to their lowest level since February 2017, although market participants said stocks are very likely to increase in November due to a sustained negative arbitrage between the LME and Shanghai since the beginning of October. Shanghai-bonded copper stocks were down by 3% in October to 381,000- 388,000 tonnes compared with September, and down 21% year on year. "Although the arbitrage between the LME and Shanghai was very negative in October, some top importers looked to fully use up their credit quotas for the rest of this year," a senior copper trader based in Shanghai said. "These top players ignored the import loss as they aimed to use up as much of their annual credit quotas in the fourth quarter as possible in order to secure high quotas next year," the senior copper trader added. "But...