SG:Zinc falls as higher German unemployment fuels crisis concern
Zinc fell in London, leading declines by industrial metals as an unexpected gain in German unemployment stoked concern the euro area debt crisis is weighing on regional economies.
Germany’s Federal Labor Agency said that the number of people out of work rose in March. Economists had predicted a decline. Banks in Cyprus, where a plan to force losses on depositors in exchange for a bailout triggered protests this month will reopen today under capital controls. The dollar headed for a seventh weekly climb in eight against the euro.
Mr Mark Lewon president of Salt Lake City based scrap recycler Utah Metal Works Inc said that “We’re still watching the euro struggle. A stronger dollar saps demand for raw materials as an alternative investment.
Zinc for delivery in three months dropped 0.8 percent to $1,894 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange. Prices reached the lowest level since Nov. 6. Copper fell 0.2% to USD 7,590 per tonne and the metal for delivery in May lost 0.3% to USD 3.434 a pound on the Comex in New York.
Figures compiled by Bloomberg showed that LME copper is down 4.3% this quarter, set for a third drop in four. Inventories of the metal tracked by the exchange surged 78% in the period, the biggest jump since the Q3 of 2005.
Mr William O’Neill a partner at Logic Advisors in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey said that “Copper is essentially stuck in the mud. While buyers in China, the world’s biggest copper consumer have shown some interest in the metal, funds are absent.
