Zinc social inventories expanded 2,000 mt on week

SHANGHAI, Sep 18 (SMM) – Zinc inventories in China rose this week, primarily propelled by a sharp increase in Tianjin and Shanghai.

SMM data showed that social inventories of refined zinc ingots across Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong and Hebei increased 2,000 mt in the week ended September 18 to 160,800 mt, after a decline of 19,600 mt in the previous week. The stocks rose 6,800 mt from Monday September 14.

Stocks in Shanghai rose as inflows of imported zinc increased and the shipments of domestic smelters went up with the increase of production.

In south China’s Guangdong, the arrivals of smelters improved on week with the downstream restocking at low price and the shipment was relatively stable, leading to a slight fall in inventories.

Zinc inventories in north China’s Tianjin increased slightly, as the impact of environmental protection has weakened, while some small and medium-sized mills have even suffered losses due to the weakening of galvanized profits. In addition, zinc prices rebounded rapidly with sluggish downstream purchase.

Stocks across the three major trading hubs (Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangdong) increased 300 mt this week, after a 17,900 mt decline in the week before.