SHANGHAI, Mar.26 – According to Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) statistics, inventories for several categories of metals kept rising recently, adding to oversupply pressures. As of March 22, refined copper inventories reported by SHFE hit 239,300 mt, only second to the historical high of 248,300 mt seen in April 2002.

SHFE lead inventories surged to a record of 140,800 mt last week, and SHFE inventories for primary aluminum also increased for the sixth week in a row to 505,400 mt. SMM data show that trading inventories for aluminum in Shanghai, Wuxi, Hangzhou, and Nanhai remained around 1.3 million mt last week.

SHFE zinc inventories inched down 1,934 mt to 325,500 mt.

Although copper and aluminum sectors will embrace the high-consumption season with downstream demand expected to recover modestly, the inventory pressure will pose hurdle to any improvement in prices.