Zinc inventories in LME warehouses jump 40%

Zinc inventories in London Metal Exchange (LME) registered warehouses jumped 40% to 61,025 tonnes, data published by the exchange showed on Thursday.

LME stocks data is published with a two-day lag.

Rising stocks suggest the material isn’t needed and surpluses are being deposited in LME warehouses.

Deliveries of 18,050 tonnes of the metal used to galvanise steel were made to LME warehouses in Singapore, taking total zinc stocks in that location to 50,250 tonnes.

Overall, LME zinc stocks have climbed more than 300% since early February, easing worries about availability on the LME market and creating a discount for the cash contact over the three-month contract CMZN0-3.

The discount closed at $7 a tonne on Wednesday compared with a premium of about $30 a tonne at the end of March.

Three-month zinc CMZN3 at $2,270 a tonne has dropped more than 30% since January.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Pratima Desai; editing by Robert Birsel)