Zinc snaps six-day rally as rising stocks ease tightness

LONDON: Zinc prices fell on Thursday as rising inventories eased concerns about supply tightness outside China, breaking a six-session rally during which speculative buying drove the metal to its highest level in four years.

Benchmark three-month zinc on the London Metal Exchange was down 1% at $3,855 a metric ton by 1002 GMT. The contract hit $3,949.5, its highest since June 2022, on Wednesday.

Daily LME data showed that zinc stocks rose to a three-week high of 97,875 tons after 1,100 tons of inflows to the LME-registered warehouses in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Analysts expect more inflows to the inventory, mainly from China, as the premium of the LME cash zinc contract over the benchmark finished Wednesday at $199 per ton – the highest level since December - compared with a discount of $25 three months ago.

Easing supply worries further, the global refined zinc market was in a 120,000-ton surplus in the first half of 2026 with total reported inventories increasing by 92,000 tons, according to an industry body. Refined production rose by 1.3%, driven by growth in China, while consumption added 0.6%.

In other LME metals, copper lost 0.5% to $14,177.50 a ton in cautious trade as the market awaited Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s speech on Friday for further clues on the path for U.S. interest rates.

The metal is down for the second session, having closed at a record high of $14,349.5 on Tuesday and touching the highest since January of $14,437 on Wednesday amid worries about tight inventories outside the U.S.

“Copper’s latest record high triggered profit-taking rather than follow-through buying, potentially indicating that prices have rallied as far as they can for now,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.

LME aluminium fell 0.7% to $3,204, lead dipped 0.5% to $1,900, tin eased 0.2% to $54,655 and nickel was down 0.5% at $16,795.