By Eric Onstad
LONDON, Dec 22 (Reuters) – Zinc prices touched the highest in nearly two months on Wednesday due to persistent worries about supply while other industrial metals got a boost as concern eased about renewed pandemic restrictions.
Three-month zinc on the London Metal Exchange CMZN3 gained 2.2% to $3,502 a tonne by 1100 GMT, the highest since Oct. 25.
“Market players are looking at what the UK is doing and the fact that we haven’t seen any further COVID restrictions in the UK is a big relief,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Ava Trade.
“Also, we could see supply bottlenecks still being there in the first quarter of next year. That has made some traders making some bigger bets on that and also pushing prices higher.”
High power prices have forced some zinc smelters to suspend operations and some analysts believe the situation will continue to be difficult during the winter.
* Aluminium, which has also been hit by production stoppages due to power issues, climbed 2.4% on the LME CMAL3 to $2,821 a tonne, the highest since Oct. 27.
* LME copper CMCU3 rose 1% to $9,630 a tonne, nickel CMNI3 advanced 1.1% to $19,825, lead CMPB3 added 0.7% to $2,311 but tin CMSN3 fell 0.7% to $38,425.
* Peruvian Prime Minister Mirtha Vasquez strongly urged communities blocking a road used the Las Bambas copper mine to clear the route by midday on Wednesday, saying the blockade had created major problems for the country.
* Metals markets also got support after a senior state planning official said top metals consumer China has the confidence, condition, and ability to keep economic growth at a reasonable level, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
* For the top stories in metals and other news, click TOP/MTL or MET/L
($1 = 6.3713 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Eric Onstad; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
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