SHANGHAI, Dec 4 (SMM) – Zinc inventories in China fell this week, with stocks in Tianjin decreasing relatively sharply.

SMM data showed that social inventories of refined zinc ingots across Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong and Hebei decreased 5,700 mt in the week ended December 4 to 166,700 mt. The stocks fell 4,100 mt from Monday November 30.

Stocks in Shanghai decreased slightly due to smelters’ maintenance affecting arrivals and limited inflow of imported zinc. In south China's Guangdong, small arrivals and generally stable downstream demand led to the slight decline in local zinc inventories. Stocks in Tianjin fell as smelters shipped goods to downstream factories directly, leading to a decrease in arrivals and downstream restocked due to decreased prices.

Stocks across the three major trading hubs (Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangdong) fell 5,100 mt this week, after a 3,300 mt decrease last week.