* ShFE lead stockpiles jump 118.5% in a week
* Copper stocks continue to fall on solid demand, lack of scrap
* Ferrous inventories withdrawal ease as rainy season comes early
SINGAPORE/BEIJING, June 12 (Reuters) - Lead inventories in warehouses tracked by the Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) more than doubled over the past week on higher production and as demand remained subdued in China.
Lead stocks in ShFE warehouses PB-STX-SGH jumped 118.5% over the week to 19,716 tonnes, their highest since the week ended March 20, exchange data showed on Friday. Analysts and traders had expected lead prices to retreat as a supply shortage would soon come to an end.
In the week ended June 12, copper inventories in ShFE warehouses CU-STX-SGH dropped 8.4% on-week to 128,131 tonnes, their lowest level since Dec. 27, as a rebound in consumption led to fewer stockpiles in warehouses.
“The drop in ShFE copper stocks have taken us all by surprise. Demand has been much stronger than expected,” said commodities broker Anna Stablum at Marex Spectron, adding tight scrap supplies also lead to more withdrawals of refined metal.
Aluminium stockpiles AL-STX-SGH fell 6.8% on-week to 248,462 tonnes, their lowest since Jan. 23.
Zinc inventories ZN-STX-SGH dropped to a four-month low of 102,253 tonnes this week, and tin stocks SSN-TOTAL-W eased 2.7% to 3,284 tonnes, while nickel stockpiles SNI-TOTAL-W rose 2% to 27,869 tonnes.
FERROUS
China’s ferrous metals stockpiles, including five main steel products such as rebar and hot-rolled coil, fell 2.6% to 14.5 million tonnes in the week ended Thursday, compared with a 3.9% decline last week, according to Mysteel consultancy data.
The slowdown in stock withdrawal occurred as China’s downstream consumption for industrial materials softened with the monsoon season, which arrived in the southern region 10 days earlier than expected.
Apparent demand for rebar and wire rods, used in construction, fell 7% and 11%, respectively from last week, Reuters calculations based on Mysteel data showed. (Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Singapore, and Min Zhang and Tom Daly in Beijing; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
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