Inventories of steel products have surged to a record high, while copper and zinc supplies are at their highest in three years
Singapore/Shanghai — China’s accumulating a vast stock of commodities that is threatening markets already hammered by the coronavirus.
So the commodities are piling up outside plants, in warehouses and storage tanks. Inventories of steel products this week surged to a record, while copper and zinc supplies at warehouses tracked by the Shanghai Futures Exchange expanded to the highest in nearly three years. Petrol and diesel stockpiles are expected to get close to their theoretical capacity in February.
In a sign of how desperate the situation is getting, China’s top nonferrous-metal industry association on Thursday called on the central government to buy metals from smelters to alleviate pressure from rising inventories. The extended shutdown of customers’ plants has reduced demand, causing inventories to swell and prices to weaken, according to the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association.
And the demand side may also start to improve as Beijing gets the country running again, which would help reduce inventories, said Xiao Fu, head of global commodities strategy at BOCI Global Commodities.
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