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

To: jack hampton who wrote (162)	3/30/1999 6:07:00 PM
From: Stephen O	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3270

Base Metals Prices Fall as Japanese Economy Worsens (Update1) 3/30/99 11:39 London, March 30 (Bloomberg) -- Base metals fell, led by zinc and nickel, on concern that a Japanese economic recovery could take longer than expected. Japan's unemployment rate rose to a postwar record of 4.6 percent in February and household spending fell, boosting concern about lower demand for cars and appliances in the world's second-biggest economy. ''People were quite positive about Asia last week, but with the Japanese figures coming through now, that optimism has taken a beating,'' said Kevin Norrish, an analyst at Barclays Capital in London. Zinc for delivery in three months fell $53, or 5 percent, to $998 a ton, an eight-week low on the London Metal Exchange. An early decline accelerated after the contract fell below $1,043 a ton, forcing brokers to execute standing orders to sell, traders said. In other futures markets, three-month nickel tumbled $175, or 3.4 percent, to $4,870 a ton, its lowest close since Feb. 22. Both copper and aluminum fell for the third straight day, with copper losing $25 to $1,387 a ton and aluminum slipping $19 to $1,224 a ton. While production cuts helped support zinc for much of last year and caused nickel to rally to a 10-month high earlier this month, rising output of copper and aluminum is adding to already-ample global stockpiles, analysts said. LME-registered copper stockpiles rose to their highest on record in today's warehouse report, buoyed by a recent surge in exports from Chile, the world's biggest producer. Copper Stockpiles Copper inventories in warehouses monitored by the London Metal Exchange rose 2,600 metric tons to 716,750 tons, the most visible sign of a glut which has pushed prices down more than 20 percent in the past year. ''We're still seeing big increases in stocks,'' said Adam Rowley, a base metals analyst at Macquarie Equities. ''Recent indications are that there's more metal to come.'' Chilean mines produced 338,657 metric tons of copper in February, 23 percent more than a year earlier, according to the state-run National Statistics Institute in Santiago. The recent surge in Chilean supplies is being reflected in stockpile gains at warehouses in Hamburg and New Orleans, analysts said. In New York, copper prices were little changed. Copper for May delivery rose as much as 0.35 cent to 62.8 cents a pound on the Comex division of New York Mercantile Exchange. Copper fell more than 4 percent on Comex yesterday. --Mark Deen and Dudley White in the London newsroom (44) 171 330 7448/tc/cs