London Metal Exchange (LME) off-warrant stocks increased over May for the second consecutive month with rises across the base metal complex except for copper and nickel, figures released by the exchange show.
Combined off-warrant base metal stocks increased by 14.8pc to 344,562t at the end of May. Data is voluntarily reported by market participants, so some material may have gone unreported.
Material in the LME warehouse system sharply fell over the course of May as shadow stocks built up. Total on-warrant stocks fell by 29.6pc to 430,434t at the end of May.
Only copper and nickel off-warrant stocks fell in May with a build-up across the other metals. Zinc and lead saw the biggest increases.
LME off-warrant zinc stocks rose by 567.2pc to 21,510t after two months of even lower volumes being reported.
All zinc stocks were reported in Asia in May, continuing the trend for a third month. There has been no off-warrant material in Europe since August last year, a region where premiums for special high-grade zinc have significantly increased since the end of last summer, which further reflects tightness.
Off-warrant lead stocks increased by 106pc to 4,348t in May — almost all of which was in Asia with 4,329t reported in that continent and just 19t in Europe. No material was reported in the US.
Aluminium off-warrant stocks rose by 13.4pc to 289,978t in May, as stocks increased in both Asia and Europe but fell in the US.
Asia off-warrant aluminium stocks stood at 253,728t at the end of the month, up from 213,663t at the end of April. In Europe stocks rose to 21,642t, up from 19,740t, while in the US stocks fell to 14,608t, down from 22,339t.
Off-warrant tin stocks were up by 31.4pc to 230t owing to a rise in reported material in the US, up to 75t from nothing. Asian off-warrant tin stocks fell to 155t from 175t in May.
Copper and nickel stocks offset some of the gains in the other metals as reported off-warrant stocks fell.
Off-warrant nickel stocks almost halved, falling by 47.65pc to 2,068t at the end of May owing to significant falls in Europe and Asia, where reported stocks fell to 817t and 651t from 2,245t and 1,105t.
US off-warrant nickel stocks were unchanged at 600t.
LME off-warrant copper stocks decreased by 25.3pc to 25,312t at the end of May.
In Asia off-warrant copper stocks fell by 28.1pc to 17,244t at the end of the month, while in Europe off-warrant stocks fell by 60.8pc to 5,437t.
US off-warrant copper stocks climbed by 167.1pc to 7,380t.
