Zinc social inventories shrank 3,000 mt over weekend

SHANGHAI, Apr 19 (SMM) – Zinc inventories in China fell over the weekend.

SMM data showed that social inventories of refined zinc ingots across Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong and Hebei decreased 3,000 mt from last Friday April 16 to 217,700 mt as of Monday April 19. The stocks were down 14,900 mt from April 12.

Stocks in Shanghai decreased as smelters' maintenance affected arrivals and the inflow of import zinc slowed down. In south China's Guangdong, downstream procurement demand weakened when zinc prices rebounded and market arrivals also decreased, which led to the slight increase in stocks. Stocks in Tianjin piled up slightly as downstream restocked when zinc prices fell last week and procurement demand weakened on last Friday.

Compared to last Friday, social inventories of refined zinc across the three major trading hubs (Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangdong) decreased 2,500 mt.