The total amount of lead held outside of the London Metal Exchange's warehouses fell by 77.6% over August, with most other metals also posting declines, according to the LME's latest report.
After a small rise in July, the total amount of metal held outside of LME sheds was down by 150,694 tonnes to 813,916 tonnes in August.
Lead had the biggest decrease - just 1,053 tonnes were left off-warrant at the end of August.
This was largely due to the depletion of European lead's off-warrant stocks, which were down by 82.7% to just 762 tonnes from 4,440 tonnes in July. Consumers in Europe scrambled for metal after the region's main smelter Ecobat declared force majeure at the...