Zinc inventories climb on delivery from smelters, imports

SHANGHAI, Oct 8 (SMM) – Social inventories of refined zinc across Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangdong came in at 147,400 mt as of Monday October 8, SMM data showed.

This was up 20,700 mt from Tuesday September 25 and up 26,000 mt from Friday September 28. Stocks of the three consumption areas all registered increases during the National Day holiday. 

Smelters mostly maintained regular delivery during the week-long holiday, while downstream consumers took breaks for a few days and made limited purchases. 

An open import arbitrage window encouraged importers to move cargoes into the domestic market, and this also grew zinc inventories across social warehouses.

SMM expects a slight decline in the inventories after the holiday week as most downstream plants would restock and resume normal production.