zinc price, page-11

Trading will never be the same.* Zinc rallies after China cancels export rebates

* Copper, aluminium steady ahead of U.S. economic data

(Adds fresh comment/details, changes dateline PVS SYDNEY)

By Julie Crust

LONDON, July 31 (Reuters) - Zinc futures jumped over 6 percent on Thursday after top producer China cancelled export rebates in a move that could curb the flow of Chinese zinc into the world market.

Copper and aluminium futures were steady as traders looked ahead to a raft of U.S. economic data later in the day.

Three month zinc MZN3 traded on the London Metal Exchange at $1,927 a tonne by 1043 GMT, up from Wednesday's close of $1,870. It eased from an earlier two-week peak of $1,984 after LME stocks increased by 3,000 tonnes to 157,325 tonnes, the highest level since September 2006.

"A mixture of positioning, techincals and now fundamentals leaves the zinc market poised for a nasty squeeze higher," John Reade, analyst at UBS, said in a research note.

"With the market apparently extremely short zinc, this could be a trigger for a sharp move higher to $2,000 a tonne or beyond," he said.