Copper has experienced the sharpest seasonal stocks build this year, leaving exchange inventory at the highest levels since 2020.
The rise in ShFE zinc inventories has closely matched last year’s pattern, while aluminum has seen a highly muted rebuild by historical standards.
Nickel stocks were increasing before the holiday break and are now at four-year highs. Those of tin are the highest since ShFE launched its tin contract in 2015.
Copper surge
ShFE copper stocks have mushroomed from just 30,905 metric tons at the end of December to 285,090 tons.
The scale of this year’s seasonal surge has been the strongest since 2020, when registered inventory peaked at 380,085 tons. The New Year holiday period that year coincided with the first wave of COVID-19 lockdowns and the resulting slump in Chinese manufacturing activity.
This year the jump in exchange stocks likely reflects the combination of fast domestic production growth and…
