SMM Zinc Morning Comment: LME zinc prices moved at highs

LME zinc opened at $2848/mt last Friday, touching a high and a low of $2905/mt and $2812/mt respectively. LME zinc rallied and closed up $4/mt or 0.14% at $2853.5/mt. The trading volume grew to 11372 lots, and open interest grew 553 lots to 244,000 lots. LME zinc inventory decreased by 50 mt to 254450 mt, a drop of 0.02%. Overseas inflation data rose and the US consumer confidence index fell short of expectations. LME zinc rose and then fell. But long positions remained strong and LME zinc continued to operate at a high level.

The most active SHFE 2406 zinc contract prices opened at 22820 yuan/mt and fell 20 yuan/mt or 0.09% to close at 22720 yuan/mt with the high-end of 22905 yuan/mt and the low-end of 22760 yuan/mt. Trading volumes decreased to 94533 lots and open interest fell 3547 lots to 97995 lots. Despite ore shortage, as the Labour Day holiday approaches, long positions tend to leave the market for risk aversion. However, considering that LME zinc is still running at a high level, it is expected to continue to drive SHFE zinc and there is limited room for price decline in the short term.