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State reserve agency buys 100,000 tons of zinc

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-25 15:07

China's State Reserves Bureau (SRB) bought 100,000 tons of refined zinc from eight local smelters at 11,450-11,500 yuan per ton on Wednesday, smelter sources said.

Related readings:  State reserve agency stockpile to buoy aluminum sector  Smelters agree to cut production by 10%  Zinc futures surge on supply shortages

The purchase was the second in less than two months as part of the government's plan to support local smelters which are suffering from weak demand.

"The SRB bought 100,000 tons today," a smelter source with direct knowledge of the deal said.

"The average selling price was 11,497 yuan, with most smelters having sold at 11,500 yuan and one smelter at 11,450 yuan," he added.

The latest purchase was in line with expected volume, while prices were more than 9 percent higher than spot values in Shanghai on Wednesday, compared with 3.5 percent higher when it made the first purchase in January.

The SRB, which builds and manages commodity reserves for the government, bought 59,000 tons of refined zinc from seven smelters at 11,800 yuan per ton on Jan 14.

A smelter manager said on Tuesday that the SRB had planned to buy 100,000 tons in the January meeting but smelters had refused to sell more because of expectations of higher prices.

But strong Chinese prices have encouraged merchants to import spot refined zinc into the world's top producer of the metal, which could drive down prices.

Imports in January surged 306 percent from a year earlier and 278 percent from December to 12,498 tons.