Restocking by downstream consumers in preparation for China's National Day holiday was the main driver of a drawdown of most base metal stocks at Shanghai Futures Exchange-approved warehouses in the week to Friday September 20.
All base metals inventories fell, barring zinc and nickel. Copper stocks tumbled by 7.1% or 10,809 tonnes to 141,379 tonnes in the latest SHFE stock report released on Friday. Market participants attributed the big fall to downstream plants' building stocks before the week-long national holiday, also called Golden Week on October 1-7. During this period, there will be very limited logistics for transporting cargoes, prompting consumers to buy...