China Metals Activity Tracker Copper consumption continues to slow, aluminum picks up

Research evidence excerpt

China Metals Activity Tracker Copper consumption continues to slow, aluminum picks up

J P M O R G A N Europe Equity Research

08 June 2026

China Metals Activity Tracker

Copper consumption continues to slow, aluminum picks

up

We present our high-frequency inventory trends for base metals, steel and iron ore European Metals, Mining & Steel

ACin China for the week ended 5 Jun’26. Our data plots China weekly metals Dominic O'Kane

inventory trends, a proxy for consumption. Copper recorded a sixth consecutive (44-20) 7742-6729

week of weak demand, with minimal inventory movement in the past week; dominic.j.okane@jpmorgan.com

although this marks a slowdown vs exceptionally strong consumption across J.P. Morgan Securities plc

March-April, slower destocking is consistent with normal seasonality and we Patrick Jones

expect such trends could continue into the next few weeks. Aluminum’s (44-20) 7742-5964

patrick.jones@jpmorgan.com

momentum has continued to pick up with another de-stocking in the past week of J.P. Morgan Securities plc

26kt, which is sliglhtly stronger vs seasonal average this time of the year. Asia Pacific Basic Materials

Lyndon FaganOverall, metals drawdowns have remained weak since May, after an exceptionally

(61-2) 9003-8648

strong reopening post China New Year. As we noted in our China Steel Channel lyndon.fagan@jpmorgan.com

Checker (link), weaker demand is reflected in May NBS PMI readings and what J.P. Morgan Securities Australia Limited

is of note is the weakness in manufacturing activity which supports onshore metals North America Metals, Mining &

demand. What further complicates the scenario is the Strait of Hormuz closure Clean Tech

extending beyond JPM Commodities Research’s base case of 1 June open. Our Bill Peterson