Zinc social inventories surged 17,000 mt in the week before CNY holiday

SHANGHAI, Jan 23 (SMM) – Zinc inventories in China rose sharply this week, as demand stalled after downstream consumers shut 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 17,000 mt from last Friday January 17 to 129,000 mt as of Thursday January 23, five times an increase of 3,400 mt seen last week. Between Monday and Thursday, the stocks gained 11,000 mt.

Stocks across all the seven trading hubs expanded this week, with the biggest gain seen in Shanghai due to concentrated arrivals.

Compared to last Friday, social inventories of refined zinc across Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangdong jumped 11,700 mt, more than double a build of 4,600 mt in the week ended January 17.