1,875t increase or from 4.8 to 6.6% in cancelled...

1,875t increase or from 4.8 to 6.6% in cancelled tonnages.

Singapore headline figure has become a lot more sporadic in the last few weeks with only 3025t in, compared to just on 15,000t for December and January.

I remember vaguely that an item commented that the Chinese had 35,000t available to sell on the open market whilst prices were high and tax concessions were in place so it seems this may have just about been met prior to the Chinese New Year.

Hopefully this is the case and this new short covering is the response to what the market believes will be a rally in zinc for the next few months at the very least.

News from smelters is mixed in terms of supply with some saying they are short and looking to cover those shortages and others mentioning they expect with pickups in mine production and opening of some idled production which will lead to a balanced concentrate supply for the rest of the year.

Previous to the last spike in zinc the consumer demand seemed happy to pay around $1.50/lb so with any kind of luck this is where it will settle for the foreseable future until stocks begin the inevitable rise.

Imho the zinc stockpile chart is behaving very much like copper did a year prior to the over-supply becoming an issue.One has to only do a quick comparison to see the similarities,its just that zinc is shifted around 12 to 18 months behind.Just how the supply response reacts with reasonably strong growth forecast in steel use over the coming few years remains to be seen.

I notice the Chinese are to limit steel exports this year which may intimate just how strong thye expect steel demand to be.
d.