Mitsui Mining and Smelting to Raise Zinc Price to 347,000 yen

A Japanese major smelter Mitsui Mining and Smelting announced on Friday it raised the official zinc price for the shipping in March to 347,000 yen per tonne, up 13,000 yen per tonne. The price broke the record high in March 20 because of the overseas market’s rising and weaker yen. Mitsui’s average official zinc price in March increased to 322,900 yen per tonne.The cash price of zinc on LME (London Metal Exchange) was US$2,543 per tonne, up US$52 per tonne on March 23 over the previous day and broke the record high at US$2,511 per tonne on March 21 since transfer to dollar-base trading. The amount of zinc inventory on LME is decreasing. The stock became below 300,000 tonnes on March 23. The incursion of the speculative funds has continued since the supply and demand became tight. In Japan, the yen traded at 119.04 yen against the dollar for telegraphic transfer selling rate on the Tokyo foreign exchange market on March 24, up 1.13 yen.