LME ends chaotic year with metal stockpiles perilously low

By Bloomberg News 

2022.12.31

The London Metal Exchange will enter 2023 with the smallest available warehouse stockpiles in at least 25 years, setting the stage for future squeezes and spikes if demand turns out stronger than expected.

Available inventories of the six main metals traded on the LME plunged by two thirds in 2022, with aluminum’s 72% decline accounting for the bulk of the drop, while zinc shrank by 90%. Collectively, inventories not already marked for withdrawal hit the lowest level in data going back to 1997 on Thursday, and finished the year only fractionally higher.