Zinc fell back in Shanghai on Friday after jumping in the previous session on the prospect of Chinese smelters cutting output by 10 percent in response to lower zinc prices and treatment charges, a key source of revenue. The most traded August zinc contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) edged down 0.04 percent to 23,215 yuan ($3,498.40) a tonne.
ShFE copper fell by 0.7 percent but is still set for a 1.8 percent gain over the three months. Shanghai nickel is set for its best quarter since the contract was launched in 2015, with a 17.8 percent rise, while lead is poised to add 16.4 percent this quarter amid an environmental crackdown in China.
The metal, used to galvanise steel, is on course to shed 11.8 percent in London and 5.3 percent in Shanghai in the second quarter, which in both cases would mark its worst quarter since the third quarter of 2015.