| | Zinc Climbs to Record for Fifth Day in London as Supply Falters
By Claudia Carpenter and Chanyaporn Chanjaroen
Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Zinc rose to a record in London for a fifth straight trading session as inventory declines and production disruptions curbed supply of the metal used to galvanize steel.
Stockpiles monitored by the London Metal Exchange dropped 1.2 percent to 107,625 metric tons, the LME said today in a daily report. That's the lowest since April 1991. Canada's Teck Cominco Ltd., the world's largest producer, said yesterday that shipments of concentrate, a raw material smelted into metal, were delayed in the third quarter due to bad weather at the Red Dog mine in Alaska.
``There just isn't enough metal out there,'' Andrew Ferguson, who helps manage 170 million pounds ($322 million) at London-based New City Investment Managers Ltd., said via telephone. ``The reverse side is that supply is getting tighter and tighter.''
Zinc for delivery in three months rose as much as $85, or 2 percent, to $4,255 a metric ton, beating yesterday's record by $53. It was at the level as of 12:25 p.m. in London.
The metal is heading for a monthly increase of 28 percent, the largest since at least February 1989. Prices may extend gains by another 20 percent, Ferguson said.
Teck Cominco, based in Vancouver, said that ``poor weather conditions'' delayed shipments of zinc concentrate from Red Dog, the world's largest zinc mine.
Sales of zinc from the mine dropped by 80,000 tons, or 41 percent, in the third quarter from 117,000 tons a year earlier, Teck Cominco said in a statement accompanying its earnings for the period. The company will ship the delayed concentrate to customers in the fourth and first quarters, Chief Executive Officer and President Don Lindsay said in the statement.
Net income rose 24 percent as zinc and copper prices soared, the company said.
Copper for delivery in three months rose $60, or 0.8 percent, to $7,430 a ton. The metal used in wires and plumbing is down 1.5 percent for October, heading for its third straight monthly drop.
Other metals on the LME gained. Aluminum increased $18 to $2,826, lead was up $28 to $1,620, tin rose $100 to $10,175 and nickel climbed $900 to $31,500.
To contact the reporter on this story: Claudia Carpenter in London at Ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net or;
Last Updated: October 31, 2006 07:36 EST
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