Fewer arrivals, steady demand shrink zinc social stocks at Shanghai, Guangdong, Tianjin

SHANGHAI, Nov 9 (SMM) – Social inventories of refined zinc across Shanghai, Guangdong and Tianjin came in at 122,300 mt as of Friday November 9, down 13,600 mt from Monday November 5 and 18,700 mt from Friday November 2, SMM data showed.

Between November 5 and November 9, stocks in Shanghai shrank some 11.3% as a closed import arbitrage window limited seaborne materials entering the domestic market. Shanghai also saw fewer arrivals of domestic materials as dips in zinc prices discouraged smelters from offloading. Traffic control during the ongoing China International Import Expo also limited arrivals of domestic stocks.

The rebound in zinc prices is likely to prompt smelters to offload cargoes and the expanding SHFE/LME price ratio may generate inflows of seaborne materials.

During the same period, slowed shipments from smelters lowered stocks in Guangdong by 28.2% and stocks in Tianjin by 4.5%.

Demand across the three regions held stable. Stable orders enabled downstream consumers in Tianjin to procure as usual despite new environmental probes and higher prices of natural gas.