Japan Official Zinc Ingot Price Continues Down to 185,000 Yen/t

Mitsui Mining & Smelting announced on Wednesday the firm revised down the official zinc ingot price by 5,000 yen to 185,000 yen per tonne for domestic shipment in October. The latest price is as low as August 2005 to reflect continuous decline of overseas zinc market which was damaged by worldwide financial confusion. The monthly average would be 193,900 yen without any more revision within October.

Zinc settlement at London Metal Exchange was US$ 1,442 per tonne on 14 October and the spot selling price declined to US$ 1,391 in afternoon trading on the same day. The settlement was lower by US$ 66 from US$ 1,508 on 8 October along which Mitsui Mining & Smelting previously revised the ingot price.

The telegraphic transfer selling rate was 102.67 yen per US dollar on 15 October. Japanese official ingot price decreased again though yen became weaker by 1.69 yen against US dollar from 9 October when the price was previously revised down.

LME zinc price maintains weak since mid September when nonferrous metals market is impacted by global financial crisis. The settlement dropped down by US$ 205 or 12% from US$ 1,647 at the beginning of October. To follow the price down, Japanese official ingot price decreased by 35,000 yen or 16% from 220,000 yen at the beginning of this month.