SHANGHAI, Mar 26 (SMM) – Higher prices of futures sidelined downstream consumers of spot zinc in Shanghai on the morning of Tuesday March 26. Most traders also withheld from purchasing ahead of a lower VAT on April 1. 

This morning in Shanghai, #0 zinc traded at 22,640-22,660 yuan/mt, and #1 zinc traded at 22,580-22,600 yuan/mt. 

In the second session for the morning, sellers lowered offers of domestic brands with March's invoices, to a premium of 460-470 yuan/mt against the SHFE April contract, compared with a premium of 500-510 yuan/mt in early trades. While this attracted some purchases from traders, overall transactions were weak this morning. 

Offers of cargoes with invoices for April were heard up to a premium of 10 yuan/mt over the SHFE 1904 contract, and purchases were few, SMM learned.  

In Guangdong, premium stood at 560-600 yuan/mt over the SHFE 1905 contract, compared with the lowest at 580 yuan/mt on the previous morning. Higher prices of futures depressed downstream demand and weakened overall trades from the morning of Monday March 25. 

Traded prices of #0 zinc mostly occurred at 22,590-22,660 yuan/mt this morning. The Guangdong-Shanghai price spread stood flat, compared with a discount of 30 yuan/mt on Monday. 

The SHFE 1904 contract strengthened and settled at 22,180 yuan/mt at the end of this morning trading session, up 250 yuan/mt from that time on Monday. The SHFE 1905 contract traded some 135 yuan/mt lower than the 1904 contract at noon.