Japan Official Zinc Price Returns Down to 419,000 yen/t

Mitsui Mining & Smelting announced on Monday the firm revised down the official zinc ingot price by 14,000 yen to 419,000 yen per tonne for domestic shipment in March. The official price declined to the level before previous revision on March 12 to reflect overseas weak zinc market. The monthly average decreased to 427,200 yen.Zinc spot price at London Metal Exchange decreased by US$ 69 to US$ 3,226 per tonne at settlement on Friday from previous day. LME zinc price declined by 9% compared with the beginning of March with negative factors such as increasing LME inventory, while copper and nickel prices are increasing.LME zinc inventory increased by 6,725 tonnes to 103,525 tonnes on Friday from previous day, which exceeded 100,000 tonnes for the first time since November 14, 2006. Zinc ingot production is increasing at world zinc mines when zinc price keeps high. Zinc supply tends to ease.