Zinc social inventories expanded 13,900 mt post-holiday

SHANGHAI, Oct 9 (SMM) – Zinc inventories in China surged during the National Day holiday, showed SMM data, primarily propelled by a sharp increase in Tianjin and Guangdong.

SMM data showed that social inventories of refined zinc ingots across Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong and Hebei increased 19,500 mt from September 30 and stood at 149,000 mt on Friday October 9.

In east China's Shanghai, the arrivals of domestic smelters continued to increase, but some are shipped to the surrounding areas, affecting the arrival volume.

In south China's Guangdong, most smelters maintained high output, and the price difference between Shanghai and Guangdong has narrowed significantly before the holiday. The arrivals of smelters in Guangdong has increased, leading to the sharp increase in local zinc inventories.

Zinc inventories in north China's Tianjin has expanded sharply, while the arrivals decreased slightly due to some pre-holiday pricing cargoes being shipped directly to the downstream.

Stocks across the three major trading hubs (Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangdong) rose 15,300 mt this week, after a 12,200 mt decrease last week.