The three-month lead price on the London Metal Exchange climbed by just under 2% at the close of trading on Thursday June 6, closing just below $1,900 per tonne amid news of Nyrstar's declaration of force majeure at its Port Pirie smelter in Australia.
The force majeure affects lead contracts for deliveries from Port Pirie after the blast furnace failed at the end of May. Representatives at the company confirmed the outage is being assessed and there is no date for the return to operations. Nyrstar produced 160,000 tonnes of refined lead at Port Pirie in 2018, while More than 6,600 lots of lead were exchanged over the day's trading, the largest daily trade volume since February. In addition, lead's forward spreads on the LME have tightened this week, flipping to a backwardation of $39 per tonne on Wednesday after trading...