Warrant traders are reporting an uptick in European zinc warrants available on the London Metal Exchange amid fresh inflows of material this month, while a strong backwardation in the metal's nearby spreads has left participants questioning what is incentivizing buying.
This week, Fastmarkets was informed of business at $25-30 per tonne for 99.995% North European zinc warrants, its highest level since July 2018. The range has moved up incrementally in recent weeks from $20-30 per tonne last week and $15-25 per tonne the week prior. Fresh inflows of more than 20,000 tonnes throughout April into mostly European locations has fueled availability of the LME-registered material across the warrant market, with much of it said to be Glencore-brand Asturiana material from Northwest Spain. On-warrant LME zinc stocks are now at 78,100 tonnes, up by more than 46% since...