Zinc Downside Seen Capped As Market Tightens

LONDON, Jun 16 -- The zinc market balance will tighten over the next couple of years, spurring a fresh bull run the price of the industry-linked metal, an industry expert and former head of BlackRock's natural resources team said Thursday.

"Zinc is oversupplied at the moment, so there is no reason why you would want to invest in zinc today. But put it on watch," Birch told delegates at ETF Securities' annual metals conference in London.

"A huge supply-demand gap is coming down the road, (so) I don't see much downside in the zinc price," he said.

After opening the year at $2,430 a metric ton, the price of LME three-month zinc has gradually declined, trading at $2,218/ton at 1605 GMT Thursday.