Last Friday, LME zinc opened at $2553/mt and closed up $49.5/mt or 1.94% at $2602.5/mt. The trading volume was 8688 lots, and open interest added 1667 lots to 195,000 lots. Last week, a large amount of more than 20,000 tons of zinc was delivered to the LME, with total inventories exceeding 230,000 tons, hitting the highest level since September 2021, thus suppressing market optimism. But the annual rate of the U.S. core PCE price index in November was lower than expected. 3.2%. The market has predicted the progress of interest rate cuts in advance, and the bullish sentiment is fermenting. Today is the Christmas holiday and LME zinc trading is suspended.
Last Friday evening, the most active SHFE 2402 zinc contract prices opened at 21330 yuan/mt and closed at 21350 yuan/mt, up 115 yuan/mt or 0.54%. Trading volume stood at 47,000 lots, and open interest decreased by 860 lots to 83,000 lots. The environmental protection warning in the north has been revived. At the same time, heavy snowfall in Shandong has weakened the production of galvanizing companies. The off-season consumption has limited the upward movement of zinc prices. The upward pressure on zinc prices has come under pressure. However, the external market drove the internal market higher last Friday.
