Zinc social inventories surged on concentrated arrivals, stagnated consumption

SHANGHAI, Jan 20 (SMM) – Zinc inventories in China surged over the weekend, as stocks in all the major trading hubs rose with downstream processors away for the Chinese New Year holiday.

SMM data showed that social inventories of refined zinc across Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong and Hebei increased 6,000 mt from last Friday January 17 to 118,000 mt as of Monday January 20. Compared to last Monday January 13, the stocks climbed 7,800 mt.

Stocks in Shanghai rebounded over the weekend, rising more than 2,000 mt to lead the gains due to the arrival of shipments that had been slowed following the start of a peak holiday travel season and muted stockpiling activity by downstream consumers.

Meanwhile, arrivals at Guangdong and Tianjin were normal, which led to higher inventories amid stagnated demand as almost all downstream consumers there have been closed for the CNY holiday.

Over the weekend, social inventories of refined zinc across Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangdong jumped 4,100 mt, after a build of 4,600 mt in the week ended January 17.