Japan Official Zinc Price Hits Record Again

Mitsui Mining & Smelting announced on Wednesday it raised the official zinc ingot price by 7,000 yen to record 354,000 yen per tonne for domestic shipment in March. The monthly averaged price increased by 900 yen to 323,800 yen. The firm increased the price 4 times after March 15 to match surging offshore market price. Zinc settlement price at London Metal Exchange decreased by US$ 2 to US$ 2,601 per tonne on Tuesday. However, the price is still US$ 58 higher than the settlement price on March 23, which was standard when the Japanese smelter increased the official price last time. Speculative purchasing continues to increase the market with the tight spot supply of zinc. The LME price keeps renewing the record after LME shifted to US dollar based transaction almost every day.