FX.co ★ Zinc Holds Decline

Zinc futures traded around $3,320 per tonne, consolidating their retreat from a more than 3½-year high, after Boliden’s plan to restart production at its Garpenberg mine in Q2 helped ease some supply concerns. Even so, downside pressure remained contained, as market fundamentals continued to indicate tight near‑term supply. LME inventories kept declining, while the narrowing Cash–3M contango pointed to a firmer market structure. Falling treatment charges for zinc concentrate further underscored constraints in raw material availability. In China, stocks at the Shanghai Futures Exchange dropped 1.8%, and port-side concentrate inventories fell sharply. Ongoing mine closures and operational disruptions have continued to strain the supply side, though the restart of Boliden’s Tara mine and the ramp-up of Ivanhoe’s Kipushi project are expected to provide some relief. On the demand side, improving industrial activity in China lent support to sentiment, but persistent tensions in the Middle East continued to weigh on the broader outlook.