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Gold/Mining/Energy : ZINC The base metal. News and Views. Symbol Zn -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Stephen O who wrote (537)	10/3/2003 7:13:07 AM
From: TheSlowLane	Respond to of 3270

Stephen - thanks for your comments. Here's a Reuters piece from Weds. that I missed until this morning: Teck shares jump as zinc outlook gathers support Wednesday October 1, 3:06 pm ET (Figures in U.S. dollars unless noted) VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Shares in Teck Cominco Ltd. (Toronto:TEKb.TO - News), the world's biggest zinc producer, rose on Wednesday on a growing chorus of positive comments about the outlook for the out-of-favor metal. ADVERTISEMENT Teck Cominco stock added more than 5 percent, or 74 Canadian cents, to C$15.15 on the Toronto Stock Exchange (News - Websites) on Wednesday afternoon, outperforming an already firm mining board and rising to within a whisker of an 18-month high. Analysts said comments by Teck executives on Tuesday about the growing appetite for zinc from China -- the industry's biggest miner, refiner and consumer -- provided a positive backdrop for the Canadian company, which owns the world's biggest zinc mine. "The outlook for the metal is encouraging," Michael Fowler, an analyst with Desjardins Securities, said in a morning note. "China is an important factor for almost every base metal -- and zinc is no exception," he said. Teck Cominco officials forecast a Western world deficit of 158,000 tonnes of refined zinc next year following three years of surpluses. They also noted that, since 1998, Chinese domestic consumption of zinc had grown at double the rate of the country's mined production, meaning exports had declined. Zinc is used in a wide number of industries, including the building and automotive sectors, to galvanize metals to prevent corrosion. Excess zinc production has for several years depressed prices, which this year have slumped to their lowest average levels since 1985, at around 35 cents a pound. But analysts now see light at the end of the tunnel for zinc, which has lagged the robust price gains this year of fellow base metals, nickel and copper. John Hughes of Scotia Capital said the investment bank expected zinc prices to increase to an average 45 cents a pound in 2004 compared with the current price of 38 cents a pound. Teck Cominco did not provide a zinc price forecast. ($1=$1.35 Canadian)