SHANGHAI, Apr 16 (SMM) – Zinc inventories in China fell this week.

SMM data showed that social inventories of refined zinc ingots across Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong and Hebei decreased 8,100 mt in the week ended April 16 to 220,700 mt. The stocks fell 11,900 mt from Monday April 12.

Stocks in Shanghai decreased due to increasing purchase volume of the downstream at low prices. In south China's Guangdong, outbound cargoes rose sharply and arrivals also increased, which led to the slight decrease in stocks. Stocks in Tianjin fell sharply as downstream restocking demand increased when zinc prices fell and the maintenance of smelters in Inner Mongolia affected arrivals.

Stocks across the three major trading hubs (Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangdong) fell 8,200 mt this week, after a 4,600 mt decrease last week.