Zinc social inventories rose 43,500 mt in the 2nd week after CNY holiday

SHANGHAI, Feb 14 (SMM) – Zinc inventories in China continued to trend higher in the second week after the Chinese New Year holiday, as demand recovered slowly with downstream consumers struggling to resume work.

SMM data showed that social inventories of refined zinc across Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong and Hebei stood at 260,800 mt as of Friday February 14, up 43,500 mt from last Friday February 7 and 29,100 mt from Monday February 10. The seven regions all saw inventories gain this week.

The inventory increase in Shanghai was the biggest this week, even as production cuts at some smelters and trans-provincial transportation restrictions reduced arrivals. Deliveries leaving Shanghai warehouses increased slightly this week, as some downstream consumers in east China’s Jiangsu and Zhejiang resumed production.

Some downstream consumers in Guangdong made purchases this week to prepare for their resumption next week. Arrivals at warehouses in Hebei declined this week as some smelters trimmed output, while deliveries from the warehouses remained poor as downstream consumers have yet to resume operations.

In the week ended February 14, social inventories of refined zinc across Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangdong climbed 35,700 mt.