A forecast downtrend in the mid-to-long-term London Metal Exchange cash zinc price could bring about a shortage of zinc mining projects, BMO Capital Markets analyst Kash Kamal said in a presentation at Fastmarkets' International Lead & Zinc conference on Monday April 15.
Although the LME zinc cash price performed well in the second half of 2018, it dipped by 9.7% to a $2,644 per tonne average in the first quarter of 2019, down from an average price of $2,931 per tonne in the final quarter of 2018. And while the LME cash zinc price traded around the 2018 fourth-quarter average at a $2,927 per tonne high on April 17, BMO forecasts that the price will dip to a full-year average of $2,685 per tonne in 2019. BMO is further projecting an even lower $2,491 per tonne LME zinc cash price average for the fourth quarter of 2019. BMO's forecast softening in the LME zinc cash price has been attributed to global ability...