BLBG:Zinc Falls on Demand Concern Amid Struggle to Maintain Growth
Zinc fell in London, paring the first weekly advance in nine, on concern about prospects for demand as economies struggle to maintain growth.
Figures on April 15 will show China’s economy expanded at an 8 percent annual pace last quarter, slower than projected in February, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The country is the world’s biggest zinc consumer. U.K. construction slid 7 percent on the year in February and Indian industrial output dropped from January, reports showed today.
“Ahead of the China Q1 GDP figure on Monday, the market showed caution,” Pengjiang “Richard” Fu, director for Asian commodities trading at Newedge Group SA in London, said by e- mail. “Copper eased down a bit.”
Zinc for delivery in three months declined 1.1 percent to $1,892 a metric ton by 10:17 a.m. on the London Metal Exchange, leaving prices up 0.4 percent this week. Copper retreated 0.5 percent to $7,575 a ton and the metal for delivery in May fell 0.4 percent to $3.419 a pound on the Comex in New York.
Zinc, which protects steel from corrosion, is used “extensively” in the construction industry for roofing, wall cladding and gutters, the International Zinc Association says. India was the world’s third-biggest zinc user last year, according to the International Lead and Zinc Study Group.
Exports from China, also the leading global consumer of copper, rose less in March than estimated by analysts and growth in manufacturing was weaker than projected, according to reports this month.
Declines may be limited for copper after a pit wall collapsed April 10 at Rio Tinto Group’s Bingham Canyon mine in the U.S. Lost production stemming from the slide may wipe out a surplus of the metal predicted for this year, UBS AG said.
LME copper inventories, up 85 percent this year to the highest since September 2003, climbed 0.6 percent to 593,650 tons, daily exchange figures showed. Inventories monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange dropped to 228,290 tons this week.
Orders to remove copper from LME warehouses rose 1.5 percent today to a record 158,350 tons.
Aluminum, lead, nickel and tin slid in London.
To contact the reporter on this story: Agnieszka Troszkiewicz in London at atroszkiewic@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net
