Melting global inventories push copper prices higher

Copper prices in global markets have entered an upward trend due to the rapid melting observed in inventories in London and Shanghai. Three-month copper traded on the London Metal Exchange (LME) gained 0.56 percent, trading at 13 thousand 947 dollars per ton. On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, copper contracts climbed by 0.91 percent to as high as 106 thousand 700 yuan per ton.

LONDON AND SHANGHAI INVENTORIES DECLINED

Looking at inventory data, it was observed that copper reserves at the LME have fallen from the level of approximately 400 thousand tons reached in April to 244 thousand 25 tons. A similar picture was seen in Shanghai; inventories, which were over 430 thousand tons in March, dropped to 69 thousand 300 tons. On the other hand, COMEX copper inventories increased as of August 3, reaching 717 thousand 314 short tons.

POSITIVE TREND IN BASE METALS

The upward trend in copper was also reflected in other base metals. Nickel prices recorded an increase of 1.7 percent on the LME and 1.55 percent in Shanghai. While aluminum gained 0.76 percent in London and 1 percent in Shanghai, lead prices rose by 0.78 percent and 0.23 percent, respectively. Increases were also observed in tin prices on both exchanges. Zinc, despite gaining 0.33 percent on the LME, declined by 0.58 percent in the Shanghai market.