LME Lead Inventory Jumps Up by 15% on Tuesday

Lead inventory held by London Metal Exchange increased by 15% on Tuesday from Monday. LME lead inventory stayed at the historically low level recently. On Tuesday the inventory jumped up by 3,375 tonnes to 25,925 tonnes from previous day. Traders unloaded their inventories in a large volume when US stock market continued decreasing and nonferrous metals market totally weakened.LME lead settlement hit record US$ 3,980 per tonne on Monday, which doubled from the beginning of this year, due to the strong demand in emerging countries including China and productive troubles at large mines. LME lead inventory stays as low as a 1-day global consumption. Speculative funds are flowing into lead market with these strong factors.However, recent LME lead upsurge was not only by its own supply tightness but by the influence of strong gold and oil markets. LME lead price jumped up by more than 30% from the recent bottom at US$ 2,915 on 10 September. Market traders seemed to release their inventories for profit taking on Tuesday when nonferrous metals market wholly declined.