Fed announcement spurs zinc, bypasses lead

Lead Investing News reports lead prices surpassed by zinc since the Fed’s announcement on purchasing treasuries.

Fed officials voted on March 18 to buy Treasury and mortgage bonds in an effort to revive America’s economy, lifting stocks as well as commodities. Copper, zinc and aluminum all rose more than 6 per cent in London.

The lead market is in the same situation, with production exceeding demand. Lead prices have averaged $0.52 per lb so far this quarter, as compared with $0.56 in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to International Lead and Zinc Study Group data. Despite refined lead metal output falling in Europe, Canada, Japan and the U.S., global production ramped up by 6.1 per cent as a consequence of higher Chinese production. In a separate report, the World Bureau of Metal Statistics says lead stockpiles in London Metal Exchange warehouses increased again in January. The WBMS report says “planned output reductions haven’t yet affected world output” of smelted metal.

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