The 40,000-ton cut to its guidance is small in the context of the 14 million-ton global market but comes during a time of heightened concerns.
Zinc futures traded 1.54 higher at $3,188 a ton at 10:24 a.m. local time on the LME. Prices pared earlier gains after readily available zinc inventories tracked by the LME rose 4.8%, the most in a month.
Zinc has rallied by a fifth this year following several disruptions to mine output, making it the No. 2 performer among the exchange’s six main metals. Reflecting the supply tightness, cash contracts have swung sharply during the past week to a significant premium over three-month futures.
That structure — known as backwardation — implies spot demand is running ahead of supply. The spread between the two contracts reached $60.50 a ton Thursday, the highest in more than two years.
LME data also shows individual entities recently buying large volumes of…
