SHANGHAI, Mar 2 (SMM) – Zinc inventories in China appeared to rise slower on the back of the gradual recovery of downstream consumers, showed SMM data.

SMM data showed that social inventories of refined zinc ingots across Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong and Hebei stood at 319,100 mt as of Monday March 2, up 5,700 mt from Friday February 28 and 12,700 mt from Monday February 24.

The gain over the weekend was less than half of an increase of 11,900 mt in the previous weekend (February 21-24).

Gains were seen in Shanghai, Guangdong and Zhejiang over the weekend, while stocks in Tianjin barely changed as production curtailments or shutdowns of smelters reduced deliveries to social warehouses.

Compared to last Friday, social inventories of refined zinc across Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangdong increased 4,200 mt.