what a difference a day ecn, page-21

Hers some more positive guff for you Punters re concentrates.A post from the zinc thread.

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YEP,Im calling the head and shoulders

MYTH BUSTED!!!

GOOD

Now the zincs(particularly my little gem) can get on with what they will do best and thats providing the smelters feed for these ravenous Chinese smelters.

Btw anyone see the latest MI report re Chinese zinc smelting.

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MI Report 20070615

ZINC & LEAD

MI ANALYSIS: No let-up in Chinese refined zinc production growth.

Metals Insider - 15 June 2007

MI ANALYSIS: The latest official figure from China's National Bureau of Statistics showed no let-up in the paceof refined zinc production growth in May.

Actual output in May - these figures are always subject to later revision - was 326,300t,representing a year-on-year growth of 19.1%.Cumulative production in the first 5 months of this year rose by 22.1% to 1,489,700t.Production growth last year,by comparison,was "just" 14.8%.

Annualised production was a fresh record high of 3.81 million tonnes.With no signs that the uptrend is going to slow any time soon,that puts into question official estimates from the Antaike research house that Chinese zzinc production this year is going to be in a 3.55 - 3.70 million range.

The accepted market wisdom is that the Chinese smelter sector's weak spot is

A LACK OF CONCENTRTATES.

The official figures show that the countries mined production was 885,600t in the Jan - May period,up a meagre 6% year-on year.However it is a very moot point as to whether these figures are giving us a true picture of what is happening in the country since they do not capture a host of small mining operations.

Moreover,the country's zinc concentrates imports HAVE ROCKETED IN 2007.At 533,725t(bulk weight,NOT metal contained)in the Jan- Apr period they were MORE THAN DOUBLE the level seen in the same four months of 2006.

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So there you have it.

Imo this goes hand in hand with the burgeoning Chinese iron ore demand/steel production and implies that China is now doing to zinc what it did to iron ore in that it is rapidly becoming a black hole for zinc concentrates,the problem being that its to the detriment of other smelters worldwide and gives rise to the dynamic of the miners being on excellent negotiating grounds for the feed supplied as well as the TC's being charged.

d.