SHANGHAI, Oct. 9 (SMM) – LME zinc surged by about 2% to climb above $1,700 per tonne, and the most actively-trade zinc contract on the SHFE also rose to around 14,000 yuan per tonne after Glencore’s cut news.

Glencore said on Friday it will cut 500,000 tonnes, around one third of its annual zinc output, of global zinc production due to low prices.

How Glencore’s cut news will affect zinc market?

“Zinc prices, in the short term, will get a boost from the cut news, but its weak fundamentals will not allow a sustainable price rise,” an analyst from Guosen Futures told SMM in the latest interview.

Poor zinc consumption in China, due to a slowing economic growth, is the leading reason behind sluggish zinc prices, the analyst pointed out.

“Weak demand is now in marked contrast to high utilization rates at domestic zinc smelters facing high TCs, especially when a traditionally peak demand season in October also fails to materialize so far this year,” the analyst explained. 

The global zinc market is also not in good shape, despite no big rise or even a slight drop in LME zinc inventories, as unreported zinc inventories are estimated to be huge.

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