HZL cuts prices by 5%

In its sixth revision so far this month, Hindustan Zinc has cut its basic selling price by about five per cent across all varieties with immediate effect.

With the current revision, high-grade zinc (with 99.95 per cent purity) will be priced Rs 180,600 per tonne while special high-grade zinc at Rs 1,80,800 per tonne.Earlier, on July 13, the company had cut prices by Rs 1,100 per tonne citing sharp price declines on the London Metal Exchange (LME).

The above mentioned ex-factory or stockpoint prices are exclusive of 16 per cent excise duty and one per cent central sales tax or as applicable for zinc and lead. HZL is offering Rs 1,000 per tonne discount for those consumers who lift 10 tonne or more zinc in a calendar month.

"Despite a minute inventory built-up of just 225 tonne, the prices on the LME perked up by $335 in the last four days to $3,215 on July 19 from $3,550 on July 14. This indicates that speculation rules the market," a local trader said.

However, the price recovered on Thursday to touch $3,300 on the LME following a World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS) report on zinc deficit.

According to WBMS, the world zinc market was in deficit by 87,000 tonne in the first five months of 2006.