The three-month zinc price on the London Metal Exchange fell by more than 3% at the close of trading on Tuesday April 16, settling just above $2,800 per tonne while fresh inflows did little to narrow a wide backwardation in the metal's nearby spreads.
Zinc's nearby cash/three-month spread was most recently in a backwardation of $89 per tonne, with inflows of more than 14,000 tonnes into European warehouses this week failing to soften the metal's inflated cash price, which continues to trade above $2,900 per tonne. Similarly, the metal's tomorrow/next spread, which indicates the cost of borrowing zinc overnight, rocketed to $25 per tonne on April 12, which is the highest since before 2014. Volumes traded in the galvanizing metal also led the complex over the day, with 14,900 lots changing hands by the close, the most since March 20. LME data also shows...