RE: CHINA-What to believe?Here is a simple explanation. The increase in "zinc production" is due to refined zinc, not mined zinc - there is a big difference between the two. China is the world's biggest importer of zinc concentrate (i.e., ore). The tax on exports is to reduce exports. Why? Refining zinc ore into usable metal ingots takes energy - lots and lots of energy. And in the communist system, this likely means that the Government is paying for this energy, which means the Government is subsidizing the production of zinc metal, which means the Government is losing money here when its exported. By only taxing exports of refined zinc, the Government hopes to curtail exports and keep refined (and subsidized) zinc for local usage only. This of course will mean that supply of refined zinc to the world market will be reduced, and reduced supply means that the price will go up. Unfortunately, this will have little impact on the amount of zinc ore concentrate that is produced, but many people will not make the connection between the two and will likely assume that higher prices for refined zinc metal automatically means higher prices for zinc ore. What is really needed here is an LME for zinc ore - not refined metal.