Zinc Trades Near 35-Month High on Inventories, China Data
By Alex Davis and Jae Hur Jul 9, 2014 3:50 PM ET
Zinc traded near a 35-month high as inventories shrank amid signs that the economy is stabilizing in China, the biggest consumer of industrial metals.
The contract for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange was little changed at $2,282 a metric ton by 1:14 p.m. in Hong Kong after losing as much as 0.5 percent. Zinc touched $2,318.50 yesterday, the highest price since August 2011.
China’s producer-price index declined 1.1 percent from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said today in Beijing, compared with the median estimate of analysts for a 1 percent drop. The consumer-price index increased 2.3 percent, below projections for a 2.4 percent gain. The easing of factory deflation follows reports showing manufacturing expanded at a faster pace last month.
“Dwindling inventories and today’s positive economic data from China lent support to zinc,” saidKazuhiko Saito, an analyst at Fujitomi Co., a commodities broker in Tokyo. Investors are watching tomorrow’s trade data in China for direction, he said.
China’s customs administration will release June trade figures tomorrow, including exports and imports. The reports are projected to signal growth in exports and a recovery in imports. Stockpiles tracked by the LME have fallen 29 percent this year to 663,150 tons, the lowest level since December 2010.
Copper in London was little changed at $7,133.75 a ton after climbing as much as 0.4 percent. In New York, futures for September delivery were unchanged at $3.257 a pound on the Comex, while the contract for the same month declined 0.2 percent to 50,880 yuan ($8,211) a ton on the Shanghai Futures Exchange.
In London, nickel, aluminum and lead dropped, while tin hadn’t traded.
BMB Price at posting:
7.9¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Unspecified
