LONDON, June 20 (Reuters) - The closure of the Tara zinc mine in Ireland tells you how far the price of the galvanising metal has fallen over the last year.
The closure is unlikely to alleviate the immediate over-supply of zinc concentrates but it is a sharp reminder for the market that the zinc price is teetering on the edge of the mining production cost curve.
LME zinc price, stocks and spreadsTARA'S PERFECT STORMTara Mines, based in County Meath, is "currently cash flow negative due to a combination of factors including operational challenges, a decline in the price of zinc, high energy prices and general cost inflation", Boliden said.
"The zinc market seems to be very volatile at the moment," Nystrom said, which is an understatement given the scale of the price collapse over the last 15 months.
But Tara's suspension is a wake-up call that after a year of worrying about smelters, zinc traders need to start worrying about zinc mines as well.
Persons:
Tara, Boliden, Mines, Gunnar Nystrom, Ireland's, " Nystrom, Morgan Stanley, Barbara Lewis
Organizations:
London Metal Exchange, Ireland's RTE, Shanghai Metal Markets, Fastmarkets, Reuters, Thomson
Locations:
Ireland, County Meath, Europe, China, Shanghai, London