SHANGHAI, Apr. 16 (SMM) – US economic data released last Friday fell short of forecasts, while China's GDP growth in Q1 was 7.7%, also below the previous month and expectations, and scale-efficiency industry value added in March was lower than the previous month and forecast. This increased concerns that global economic growth will slow. In this context, commodities and global stocks markets plunged, dragging down zinc prices. In this context, LME zinc price plunged to USD 1,826/mt, but then rallied as large numbers of short closed positions, with prices finally closing at USD 1,870.5/mt, up USD 0.5/mt or 0.03%. Trading volumes increased by 4,877 lots to 16,342 lots, and total positions increased by 526 lots, to 277,000 lots. LME zinc inventories fell by 4,575 mt, to 1,131,475 mt.

LME zinc prices are expected to move between USD 1,830-1,870/mt today, and SHFE 1307 zinc contract prices should fluctuate between RMB 14,350-14,500/mt, with spot discounts between RMB 0-20/mt against SHFE 1306 zinc contract prices.