The Conversation (0)
Reuters reported that the zinc price has given up nearly all of the gains it made after major miner Glencore plc (LSE:GLEN) announced plans to cut 500,000 tonnes of its zinc production, along with 100,000 tonnes of lead output.
Reuters reported that the zinc price has given up nearly all of the gains it made after major miner Glencore plc (LSE:GLEN) announced plans to cut 500,000 tonnes of its zinc production, along with 100,000 tonnes of lead output.
As quoted in the market news:
Commodity trader and producer Glencore, the world’s largest miner of zinc ore, said on Oct. 9 it would cut 500 000 t of its zinc production or 4% of global supply to help support prices.
Some investors hoped other producers would follow suit, but a few days after Glencore’s statement, Indian rival Vedanta Resources said it had no plans to trim its zinc output since its mines had low costs.
“Investors soured so quickly on the Glencore zinc announcement,” said analyst Edward Meir at broker INTL FCStone. “It was … feared that other producers could now step in to fill the Glencore void.”
Glencore also made clear its cuts were temporary, so the threat of cranking up those mines also hanged over the market, Meir added.