Inflows of imports, preholiday stockpiling holds zinc social inventories steady

SHANGHAI, Sep 28 (SMM) – Social inventories of refined zinc across Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangdong came in at 121,300 mt as of Friday September 28, up 2,000 mt from last Friday but down 5,400 mt from Tuesday, SMM data showed.

An open import arbitrage window encouraged importers to pour their cargoes that were stored in bonded warehouses into the domestic market and this grew zinc inventories across social warehouses.

Meanwhile, downstream consumers stockpiled ahead of the week-long National Day holiday and this lowered the inventories.

SMM expects gains in zinc social inventories across the three regions after the holiday week as most smelters would keep normal production during that period.