ASIAN MORNING BRIEF 04/05: Zinc slides to nine-month low on LME; Teck signs annual zinc concentrate supply deals; Nyrstar earnings drop 5% in first quarter

The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Friday May 4.

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the close of trading on Thursday May 3, with zinc diving to its lowest point since August 2017. Read more in our live futures report.

Here are how prices looked at Thursday's close:


Teck Resources has signed annual zinc concentrate supply deals with European smelters Glencore and Nyrstar, with treatment charges set at a 12-year low of $147 per tonne. 

Nyrstar sustained a 5% year-on-year drop in first-quarter earnings despite higher zinc prices during the period, the company said in an earnings call on May 3.

Meanwhile, Glencore posted an 11% boost in cobalt production in the first quarter due to the restart of its Katanga copper mine in Africa.  

Kudumane Manganese Resources has delayed deliveries of some manganese ore shipments due to heavy rains in South Africa's Northern Cape region.

Export prices for pig iron from the Commonwealth of Independent States have weakened thanks to low demand in key markets, according to Metal Bulletin's latest price assessment.

The Eurozone purchasing manager's index fell to a 13-month low in April due to a slowdown in growth across five of the eight nations covered, according to data supplier IHS Markit.

Colombian crude steel output fell 26.7% in March, according to the Colombian Committee of Steel Producers, while long steel production edged up.

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