LME PB supply - equivalent to a few hours of production The trigger for all the excitement was the cancellation of 17,125 tonnes of LME stocks in apparent preparation for physical load-out.
This has left available stocks in the LME warehouse network at just 10,900 tonnes, the lowest this century and equivalent to a few hours worth of global consumption.
The stocks grab appeared to catch off-guard a market that has been happy to short lead and buy zinc in a long-running relative value trade between the sister metals.
Zinc smelter closures in Europe have grabbed the recent headlines but lead supply has also been taking a growing number of supply hits.
Lead refiners are less exposed to Europe’s rolling energy crunch than zinc smelters.
Macquarie Bank estimates that lead refining uses around 800 kilowatt-hours per tonne of metal, compared with 4,750 for zinc. (“Commodities Compendium”, Sep. 29, 2022).
However, persistently high gas prices across Europe are now starting to take their toll.
https://www.mining.com/web/column-supply-hits-catch-up-with-lead-as-lme-stocks-shrink/