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Gold/Mining/Energy : Breakwater Resources (T.BWR) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Stephen O who wrote (634)	6/22/1999 1:07:00 PM
From: Stephen O	Respond to of 962

World Zinc Demand in Jan-April Rose Almost 6%, Study Group Says London, June 22 (Bloomberg) -- Global zinc demand rose by almost 6 percent during the first four months of this year, buoyed by strong demand in the U.S. and parts of Southeast Asia, an inter-governmental research group said. Consumption of zinc, which is used as a protective coating for steel in the construction industry, jumped to 2.728 million metric tons from Jan. 1 to April 30 this year, up from 2.58 million tons in the year earlier period, the International Lead and Zinc Study Group said. Demand for zinc in the U.S. grew by 16 percent, while in South Korea demand gained by 40 percent and in the Philippines by 56 percent, the ILZSG said. Those gains more than offset a drop of 7.9 percent in Japanese zinc demand, the group said. Zinc prices have risen about 12 percent on the London Metal Exchange this year on traders' expectations demand in Asia will rise. The three-month LME zinc contract recently traded up $1 at $1,048 a metric ton. Zinc output is also rising. Zinc mines worldwide produced 2.511 million metric tons of metal between January and April, the ILZSG said. That's up from 2.458 million tons a year earlier. The world's zinc smelters yielded 2.684 million metric tons during the first four months of this year, up from 2.676 million metric tons a year earlier, the report said. Global lead production also rose during the same period. The world's lead mines produced 1.04 million metric tons of the metal between January and April, up from 1.03 million tons in the same period a year earlier, the ILZSG said. The increase was led by a surge in output in Australia where Broken Hill Proprietary Co.'s Cannington mine and Western Metals Ltd.'s Pillara mine both increased production, the group said. Global refined lead output rose to 2.062 million metric tons in the first four months of 1999, from 1.982 million tons a year earlier, the report said. Lead consumption jumped 2.9 percent to 2.065 million metric tons, from 2.007 million tons during the corresponding period in 1998, the ILZSG said. Three-month lead recently traded 50 cents lower at $509 a metric ton on the LME. --Dudley White in the London newsroom (44) 171-330-7126/am