At the same time, zinc stocks in LME-monitored warehouses .. LONDON, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Zinc prices rose to their highest level in nearly 10 months on Monday, the biggest gainer in the base metals complex, lifted by tightening supplies and robust imports by China.
Data from China showed the country's imports of the metal used to galvanise steel jumped 91.05 percent to 73,744 tonnes in November.
At the same time, zinc stocks in LME-monitored warehouses dropped 4,200 tonnes, latest exchange data showed, bringing the total down to 890,625 tonnes, a fall of 175,225 tonnes or 16 percent over the past two months.
Three-month zinc on the London Metal Exchange rose to a session high of $2,071, its highest level since March 1. It closed at $2,057 a tonne, up from a last bid of $2,039.
"Zinc looks most interesting in our view as supplies tighten, while demand, and especially from the steel sector in China, continues to improve," Andrey Kryuchenkov, analyst at VTB said in a note.
"Zinc could well finally break out of the... $1,800 to $2,000 range and return into the early 2011 range between $2,400 to $2,600 on the 3-month benchmark contract."
Last time Zinc & PB were over a $1.00 CZN was over 80 cents, will the past Jan/Feb rise in CZN repeat as it has done in 3 out of past 4 years or so?