LONDON (Reuters) - Copper available to the market in London Metal Exchange (LME)approved warehouses fell to the lowest level since October 2021 after large amounts of inventory were earmarked to leave the LME system, data from the exchange showed on Thursday.
Total stocks of copper in LME warehouses stand at 80,400 metric tons. Of that 62.5% or 50,275 metric tons has been set aside or cancelled for delivering out over coming weeks. This is compared with 42% previously.
LME stock data published with a two-day lag shows fresh cancellation of warrants -- documents that confer ownership -- of 19,200 metric tons, mainly in New Orleans in the United States where cancelled warrants now amount to 95% of the total stock.
Cancelling warrants indicates only an intention to take delivery of metal from LME warehouses, it can be rewarranted.
Large warrant cancellations can cause concern about supplies on the LME market and influence price differences between contracts along the maturity curve.
When the market is worried about LME supplies, contracts with short maturities typically attract a premium.
The price for the cash copper contract was $0.5 a metric ton higher than that for the three-month future on Thursday.
Benchmark LME prices of copper, used in power and construction, were up 0.8% at $8,676 per metric ton by 0935 GMT, after touching the highest since May 2 of $8,711.5.
(This story has been corrected to say 'copper' instead of 'aluminium' in paragraph 7)