Rising zinc stocks on the London Metal Exchange could be an effect of "sluggish" conditions in China, Nicholas Snowdon, a metals analyst at Deutsche Bank, said at Metal Bulletin's Lead & Zinc conference in London on Thursday March 22.
The largest zinc delivery in nearly five years hit the LME on March 5, with 78,950 tonnes delivered into New Orleans warehouses in one go. "If you look at the state of the Chinese market, it could give us some indication as to why we saw the large zinc deliveries [this month]," he explained. "The arb is closed and there is 250,000 tonnes in bonded warehouses - and probably a similar amount in SHFE warehouses," Snowdon added. "The conditions there are sluggish right now so it will take a decent amount of time for China to chomp through...