SHANGHAI, Feb 13 (SMM) - LME zinc opened at $3,134/mt last Friday, and hit a high of $3,137/mt before falling back to a low of $3,021/mt. It eventually closed at $3,024/mt, a decrease of $121.5/mt or 3.86%. The trading volume rose to 7,896 lots, and open interest was down by 2,184 lots to 201,000 lots.
LME zinc inventory increased by 4,875 mt or 22.81% to 26,250 mt, among which the inventory in Singapore climbed higher. The market was worried about overseas inflation again, and prices of non-ferrous metals generally fell. LME zinc saw a sharper decline as LME zinc inventory rebounded from low levels.
During last Friday's night session, the most-traded SHFE 2303 zinc contract opened lower at 23,150 yuan/mt and kept falling before closing at 22,995 yuan/mt, down 270 yuan/mt or 1.16%. Trading volume was down to 60,676 lots, and open interest added 3,634 lots to 85,980 lots. SHFE zinc dropped for three consecutive days and found support at the lower end of the Bollinger Bands. The supply side was still under pressure on account of high output, but the operating rates of downstream enterprises recovered significantly, allowing the accumulation of social inventory to slow down. The domestic social financing data was acceptable, and attention shall be paid to the data on the real estate sector. It is expected that the short-term zinc prices will fluctuate with limited downside room.
