Most zinc market focus was directed to long-term supply contracts that kicked off last week, keeping spot premiums quiet for most regions; meanwhile, the Taiwanese lead premium was the only mover this week.
A persistent London Metal Exchange spread backwardation, relatively high zinc price and closed arbitrage window spot deals. Supply tightness pushed up the spot lead premium in Taiwan. Lead premiums are unchanged in the United States, India and Southeast Asia.Strong backwardation, high price caps European zinc premiums Fastmarkets assessed the zinc special high grade (SHG) min 99.995% ingot premium, dp fca Rotterdam at $90-105 per tonne on Tuesday November 5, unchanged from the prior week's assessment. Equally, Fastmarkets' zinc SHG min 99.995% ingot premium, dp fca Antwerp held at $90-105 per tonne. Tightness across LME zinc's forward curve continues to limit spot appetite for physical consumption, with market participants now having to factor in a cash/three-month spread backwardation recently at $49.75 per tonne. Similarly deterring spot business, zinc's outright price on the LME continues to climb, trading either side of the $2,500 per tonne level. Physical participants continue to report a lack...