Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mixed at the close of trading on Thursday February 28, with low volumes and narrow trading ranges coming amid a slight uptick in the US dollar index, while continued US-China trade optimism came up against slower than expected US economic growth.
Climbing furthest over the afternoon, zinc's three-month price climbed more than 1% during afternoon trading, nearing $2,800 per tonne amid a continued draw on LME supply, which remains at a decade low. Similarly, three-month lead is now trading above $2,150 per tonne and reached an intraday high of $2,179.50 per tonne, its highest level since July 2018. More than 30,000 tonnes of material has been booked for removal from mostly European locations this week, with total LME lead stock similarly at its lowest level in over a decade."LME stocks continue to trend lower, falling to an 11-year low of 67,825 tonnes on February 27. Outflows have accelerated to average 2,575 tonnes per day in February compared with 719 tpd in January. Currently, only 52,650 tonnes of remain available to the market," Fastmarkets analyst Andy Farida said in his Zinc Today report. "Nearby spreads have tightened recently, which suggests an element of short-covering...