Dec 10 (Reuters) – The share of China-made copper among available London Metal Exchange stocks increased in November, exchange data showed on Wednesday, as a favourable price arbitrage incentivised Chinese exports.
The percentage of available copper stocks – or those that are on warrant – of Chinese origin in LME warehouses was at 85% at the end of last month, up from 82% in October, the data showed.
An LME warrant is a title document conferring ownership.
In absolute terms, Chinese copper stocks on the LME increased to 130,225 tons at the end of last month from 100,400 tons in October as higher LME prices compared to domestic prices in China made it more profitable to ship metal overseas.
Chinese copper brands are not deliverable on the U.S. Comex exchange, which currently holds more than 60% of global copper exchange inventories, although the metal can still be stored in U.S. warehouses outside of the Comex network.
China-made nickel meanwhile accounted for 70% of available LME nickel stocks, flat on the previous month.
The percentage of available aluminium stocks of Russian origin in LME warehouses increased to 53% in November from 51% in October, while the share for Indian origin aluminium held steady at 40%, the data showed.
In absolute terms, the amount of Russian metal increased by only 850 tons to 256,875 tons, but its percentage share grew as aluminium from Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Indonesia flowed out.
Indian aluminium stocks increased by 12,175 tons to 214,525 tons.
The LME has banned metal produced in Russia since April 13, 2024, from its warehousing system to comply with U.S. and British sanctions imposed over Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Metal made before that date can still be traded, but many traders have been avoiding it.
(Reporting by Tom Daly;Editing by Alison Williams)
