London Metal Exchange: Base Metal Inventory Update as of February 11

Come and Get It: Your Thursday, February 11, Base Metals Update

(Continued from Prior Part)

Copper and aluminum inventory levels fell

On February 11, 2016, the inventory levels of all base metals declined on the LME (London Metal Exchange), except the stock levels of zinc. Inventory levels of LME tin had the biggest fall out of all base metals, with a decline of 2.1%. Inventory levels of copper decreased by ~1.1% and reached 224,750 tons on February 11. The highest stock level of copper in recent times came in at 371,250 tons on August 28, 2015, and inventories have fallen by ~39.5% since then.

The inventory levels of LME aluminum have been in a downtrend since the beginning of 2015. On February 11, inventory levels of aluminum decreased by 0.17% to nearly ~2.75 million tons. In the week ending February 6, the LME aluminum inventory levels fell by 0.98% to ~2.77 million tons. Last year, LME aluminum stock levels declined by 31.7%.

Increasing inventory levels of zinc

Inventory levels of LME nickel decreased by about 1.8% in the week ending February 6 and reached 440,082 tons. On Thursday, February 11, inventory levels of nickel decreased by 0.08% to 438,738 tons. Inventory levels of LME nickel reached a low of 393,228 on December 9 but have risen by ~11.6% from that low.

In the week ending February 6, the stock levels of LME zinc decreased by about 0.4% and reached 474,750 tons. On Thursday, inventory levels of zinc surged by 0.03% and reached 459,675 tons. The peak inventory level of zinc in recent times was 617,325 tons on September 15, 2015. It has dropped by 25.5% since then.

Tin and lead inventories declined

The inventory level of tin decreased 2.1% to 4,420 tons on Thursday, February 11. In the week ending February 6, tin inventories fell by ~17.9% to 4,620 tons. The inventory levels of LME tin declined by 49% in 2015. Lead inventories decreased by 0.48% and reached 182,650 tons on Thursday, February 11.

Notably, Freeport-McMoRan (FCX), Alcoa (AA), BHP Billiton (BHP), Glencore (GLNCY) declined by 1.81%, 2.79%, 2.12% and 5.44% on Thursday. The PowerShares DB Base Metals Fund (DBB) declined by 0.09% on February 11.

For further analysis, keep checking in with Market Realist’s Mining and Metals page.

Browse this series on Market Realist:

• Part 1 - Copper Supported by Weak Dollar on February 11

• Part 2 - Understanding Base Metals’ Mixed Performance on February 11

• Part 3 - Base Metal Miners Continued to Fall on February 11