SINGAPORE, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Shanghai zinc jumped more than
3 percent to its strongest in more than two weeks on Friday as
LME stockpiles fell to a decade-low, with signs that China may
be moving to calm its trade dispute with the United States also
boosting prices.
China has delivered a written response to U.S. demands for
wide-ranging trade reforms ahead of expected talks between U.S.
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the
G20 summit in Argentina later this month.
"(The) trade tension has been weighing on the base metals
sector for the past six months, so this latest move represents
some hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel," ANZ
analysts said in a note.
The most-traded January zinc contract on the Shanghai
Futures Exchange rose as much as 3.3 percent to 21,645
yuan ($3,119) a tonne, its loftiest since Oct. 30. The contract
was up 2.7 percent at 21,510 yuan by midday.
The gains in China followed a 3-percent overnight rally in
zinc on the London Metal Exchange . LME zinc was off 0.1
percent at $2,573.50 a tonne by 0344 GMT.
Most other metals including copper and aluminium rose only
slightly after a Trump administration official told Reuters the
list of items that China said it was not willing to negotiate
was unacceptable to the United States.
* ZINC STOCKS: LME zinc stocks MZNSTX-TOTAL fell to a
decade-low of 125,400 tonnes, data showed, while on-warrant or
available stocks hit their lowest since February.
* CHINA OUTPUT: Zinc output in October from China, the
world's top producer of the metal, fell 7.6 percent from a year
earlier to 501,000 tonnes, official data showed.
* COPPER TC/RCs: Chinese copper smelter Jiangxi Copper
and miner Antofagasta agreed 2019 copper
treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) at $80.80 a tonne and
8.08 cents a pound in the first big deal for next year, lower
than a 2018 benchmark of $82.25 a tonne and 8.225 cents a pound.
"The concluded annual TC/RCs for 2019 reflect a much better
supply and demand fundamentals globally. We expect copper prices
to be well supported by the recent developments and outlook,"
Argonaut Securities said in a note.
* Chile's state copper agency Cochilco lowered its average
copper price prediction for this year by $0.03 to $2.97 per
pound on Thursday in its second negative projection in six
months.
* Copper was up 0.2 percent at $6,194.50 a tonne in London
, and up 0.7 percent to 49,540 yuan in Shanghai
