Virus, fundamentals fears dunk zinc price to 3 1/2 year low

Zinc's weak fundamentals are finally catching up with prices, after being softened by a selloff sparked by concerns about the coronavirus outbreak in China.

London Metal Exchange 3-month zinc futures fell on Thursday January 30 to their lowest level since July 2016, trading at $2,182 per tonne, down by 10.5% since the market opened on January 22. Cash zinc prices on the bourse were down by 11.4% over the same period.
Industrial commodities have broadly sold off since fears emerged that China's coronavirus epidemic would have the effect of reducing demand for basic materials, but zinc's price drop to multi-year lows also reflected progressively weaker assumptions for the metal's supply-demand balance.

"We are the least bullish on zinc among the base metals complex," Xiao Fu,...

China's gold holdings to central bank reserves still low

China has broad effect on gold market

Gold stocks mixed after previous week's huge gains

Large TSXV gold multiple driven up by high Artemis weighting

Monetary-driven precious metals outperform major base metals