SHANGHAI, Apr 23 (SMM) – Transactions of spot zinc remained thin in Shanghai and Tianjin on the morning of Tuesday April 23. Sellers held offers stable from the previous morning in Shanghai, but lowered offers by some 20 yuan/mt in Tianjin to attract purchases after local galvanising plants closed on pollution alerts in Tangshan and Xingtai of Hebei province. 

This morning in Shanghai, #0 zinc traded at 21,920-21,960 yuan/mt, and saw traded prices of #1 zinc at 21,820-21,940 yuan/mt. 

At noon, offers of #0 zinc stood at a premium of 80-100 yuan/mt over the SHFE front-month May contract, barely changed from the morning of Monday April 22. Demand from traders improved as trades under long-term contracts approached an end, but downstream consumers maintained on-demand purchases. Premiums of higher quality Shuangyan brand stood at 350-380 yuan/mt this morning.

In Tianjin, offers lost 20 yuan/mt from the previous morning, standing at a premium of 80-150 yuan/mt against the SHFE May contract. This failed to considerably improve downstream purchases as expected by noon. 

Traded prices of #0 common brands mostly occurred at 21,890-22,030 yuan/mt this morning. The Tianjin-Shanghai price spread stood at a premium of 15 yuan/mt, compared with a premium of 30 yuan/mt on Monday April 22. 

The SHFE May contract traded rangebound and settled at 21,850 yuan/mt at the end of the morning trading session, down 35 yuan/mt from that time on Monday.