LONDON: Zinc prices jumped more than 5% on Thursday on supply concerns after Belgium-based Nyrstar said it would shutter its plant in France from January due to soaring power prices.
The plant, which also produces lead, is the latest to fall victim to higher gas prices, including Glencore’s Portovesme plant and some of Nyrstar’s other European operations.
Elevated electricity costs caused by a wholesale power crunch this year have forced industries from zinc to steel to curtail production.
Nyrstar has the capacity to produce 720,000 tonnes of zinc in Europe, metals industry sources say.
Benchmark three-month zinc on the London Metal Exchange (LME) had jumped 5.7% to $3,455 per tonne by 1740 GMT, its highest since Oct. 25.
“Power prices, already at historically high levels across Europe, have continued to rise in recent weeks in France, in excess of neighbouring European countries,” Nystar said, adding that electricity prices could stay high and volatile in early 2022.
MINED ZINC: Miner Nexa Resources on Tuesday said it halted output at its zinc mine in Peru due to a road blockade.
FED: LME copper prices rose 3.2% to $9,499 per tonne as the US Federal Reserve’s upbeat reading of the world’s largest economy stoked risk appetite.
The Fed said the US economy would remain resilient despite the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant and pointed to low unemployment figures as it paved the way for three quarter-percentage-point interest rate hikes by the end of 2022.
PERU SUPPLY: MMG Ltd said it would be unable to continue production at its Las Bambas copper mine in Peru. The mine accounts for 2% of global copper supply.
INVENTORIES: Copper stocks in LME-registered warehouses climbed to 89,475 tonnes but are still down 6% so far this year. Meanwhile, LME cash copper was at a $22 a tonne premium over the three-month contract.
OTHER METALS: LME aluminium rose 3.2% to $2,680 a tonne, lead climbed 1.5% to $2,318, tin advanced 2.1% to $38,745 while nickel was up 2.7% to $19,625.
Source: Brecorder
