zinc and lead stockpiles up

this news no doubt not helping TZN share price

May 29 (Bloomberg) -- Zinc and lead fell for a second day in London as stockpile increases indicated supply is exceeding demand. Nickel dropped to the lowest since July 2006.

Stockpiles of zinc monitored by the exchange jumped 5.8 percent to a 20-month high, the London Metal Exchange said today. Lead inventory climbed 2.4 percent to the highest since Sept. 25.

``Demand is soft and supply is picking up,'' said David Thurtell, an analyst at BNP Paribas in London. ``Definitely we'll see a significant surplus in zinc, and a modest one in lead.''

Zinc for delivery in three months fell $60, or 2.8 percent, to $2,060 a metric ton as of 11:09 a.m. in London, extending this year's loss to 13 percent. Lead, the biggest decliner on the London Metal Exchange this year, fell as much as 3.9 percent to $1,950 a ton.

Zinc, used to galvanize steel, slid 44 percent last year. The continued decline will force mines to close because prices are below production costs, Donald Lindsay, chief executive officer of Teck Cominco Ltd., the world's second-largest zinc producer, said May 23.

Production of the metal will beat demand by 400,000 tons this year, according to Thurtell. Lead will be in a surplus of 150,000 tons, he said.