NORTH AMERICAN MORNING BRIEF 20/03: LME base metals lower; China’s zinc production rises; Glencore to buy stake in Hail Creek

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower again during morning trading on Tuesday March 20, with nickel the sole metal in positive territory.

The three-month nickel price recovered $70 this morning to recoup some of Monday’s losses after stocks continued to slide.

“The significant decline in available stocks level continues to underpin nickel prices, we feel. At 196,392 tonnes, this is equal to a 22.5% decline since the start of 2018,” Andy Farida, Metal Bulletin analyst, said.

Here is how the LME base metals complex looked at 11.48 am London time:

For a snapshot of exchange news, check out our live futures report.

China, the world’s largest zinc producing country, produced 957,000 tonnes of refined zinc in the first two months of 2018, representing an increase of 2.5% from the same period a year earlier, the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.