LONDON – Zinc prices slid to a three-week low after a surge in inventories and a spike in the dollar as metals demand in China remained lacklustre despite the world’s top metals consumer having scrapped COVID-19 controls.
Three-month zinc on the London Metal Exchange (LME) dropped 4.8 percent to $3,219 a ton, the weakest since Jan. 12. Zinc has gained about 8 percent so far this year.
Zinc extended losses after US job growth accelerated sharply in January, sending the dollar index surging.
A stronger dollar makes commodities priced in the US currency more expensive for buyers using other currencies.
Zinc stocks on the LME have sunk to the lowest levels since 1989 but have soared in China.
Inventories in warehouses registered with the Shanghai Futures Exchange have more than doubled to 91,616 tons since Jan. 20, data showed on Friday in the first such report since China’s Lunar New Year holiday. – Reuters
