China blizzard boosts zinc prices
LME prices up to $1.04/lb
Tom Stundza -- Purchasing, 11/24/2009 2:52:11 PM
Zinc prices have traded on the London Metals Exchange in excess of $1/lb for the past six days--$1.04/lb yesterday--because of speculation that China's worst snowstorms in decades may have reduced supplies of the alloying and plating metal in the largest producer and consumer country.The heavy snow reportedly has affected a number of zinc mines and power plants in Shanxi and Anhui provinces.
Reports from various wire services are quoting the official Xinhua News Agency, which has reported that power cuts and transport problems are slowing production and deliveries. For example, more than 640,000 people in China's Anhui province faced power shortages due to heavy snow, the news agency reported yesterday.
A nonferrous metals dealer in Shanghai tells Reuters that "some speculative buyers have returned to push prices higher."
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