…zinc LME inventories, 5 year:
To go with this from Reuters :
LME zinc stocks hit highest since May 1995 SINGAPORE, March 28 (Reuters) –Zinc stocks in warehouses monitored by the London Metal Exchange (LME) jumped to the highest in nearly 17 years on Wednesday, climbing steadily after years of market surpluses.LME stocks of zinc , a metal used to galvanise steel, jumped by 9,850 tonnes to 898,675 tonnes, latest LME data showed, which was the highest since May 1995, metals strategists at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and BNP Paribas said. “The zinc market has been in a very large surplus for several years now, and is looking at another surplus this year. Stocks are generally continuing to build up from already massive levels,” metals strategist Stephen Briggs of BNP Paribas said. “There’s likely to be a slowdown in steel demand growth this year, and for the last few months, for most base metals, demand has been quite weak. Zinc is in worse shape than some because producers have been more than matching demand,” he added.
The global zinc market was in surplus by 22,400 tonnes in January, having recorded a 351,000 tonne surplus in 2011, according to Lisbon-based International Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG). 29