Base metals hit new record prices

In the metals markets on Monday, supply concerns and low inventories meant a 17-year record high for the price of tin and new all-time high prices for nickel and lead on Monday. Tin added 12.8 percent to $11,000 per tonne late in the day in London on worries about disruptions in supplies from Indonesia.

Nickel was 3.4 percent higher to $31,800 per tonne, down slightly from a record high of $31.900 per tonne reached earlier in the day, with only 2,514 tonnes of the metal in London Metal Exchange warehouses. Lead, meanwhile, reached a new record of $1,545 per tonne during the day’s session before easing back slightly to a gain of 2.9 percent to $1,535 per tonne.

Copper and zinc were also higher on the day, by 4 percent to $7,760 per tonne and by 4.6 percent to $3,965 per tonne respectively. Zinc that was actually available was in short supply and could continue to be so in the next few months despite a forecast by the Lead and Zinc Study Group of a 7.3 percent hike in mine production next year.