The significant drop in US June CPI boosts market sentiment, overnight LME zinc rose by 2.23%. Tightened supply due to maintenance impact on zinc ingot production, coupled with marginal improvement in downstream demand, is expected to lead to a rise in spot zinc prices today.
Overnight, LME zinc rose with an opening price of $2,365.5 per tonne, reaching a high of $2,434 per tonne and a low of $2,345 per tonne. It closed at $2,424.5 per tonne, recording a 2.23% increase. The trading volume was 9,233 lots, representing an increase of 1,977 lots compared to the previous period, while the open interest remained unchanged at 178,230 lots. In the evening session, the SHFE zinc futures contract rose and closed at 20,345 yuan per tonne, up by 1.75%.
On July 12th, the latest inventory of LME zinc in London Metal Exchange (LME) stood at 72,150 metric tons, showing a decrease of 775 metric tons compared to the previous trading day.
The significant drop in US June CPI has led to a shift in market expectations from previously anticipated two interest rate hikes to just one this month. As a result, risk assets have seen across-the-board gains, greatly boosting market sentiment. On the supply side, zinc ingot production has gradually declined due to maintenance-related impacts. Meanwhile, there has been a marginal improvement in end-demand, leading to a slight recovery in downstream raw material procurement for inventory replenishment. In the context of tight supply and demand dynamics, it is expected that the short-term trend of accumulating inventories may reverse, leading to a potential increase in spot zinc prices today.