HANOI: Zinc prices were set for their biggest drop since February 2020 on Friday, hurt by a recent jump in inventories in the London Metal Exchange's warehouses.

LME three-month zinc fell 0.3% to $2,585 a tonne by 0307 GMT, down 6% on a monthly basis, while the most-traded March zinc contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange had also shed 6% on a monthly basis, despite edging up 0.2% to 19,555 yuan ($3,027.42) a tonne.

Zinc inventories in LME warehouses were last at 293,800 tonnes, down just 700 tonnes from the previous session where stockpiles hit their highest since June 2017 at 294,500 tonnes.

The global refined zinc market is expected to be in surplus of 463,000 tonnes in 2021, the International Lead and Zinc Study Group said last year.