Nyrstar Says Fire Cuts Australian Zinc Smelter Output by an Estimated 20%

Nyrstar NV, the world’s largest zinc producer, said a fire at its Hobart smelter in Australia cut output at the plant by an estimated 20 percent.

The company is studying the damage and has no estimate on the cost, or when full production will resume, smelter General Manager Jeremy Kouw said today by telephone. No one was injured and government investigators are at the site, Kouw said.

The smelter, in the capital of Tasmania State, has a production capacity of 260,000 metric tons and exports mainly to Asia, according to the Balen, Belgium-based Company’s website. China consumes 41 percent of the world’s zinc, used to rust- proof steel, Deutsche Bank AG estimates.

Nyrstar rose 31 cents, or 4.1 percent, to 7.85 euros in Brussels trading. The stock earlier fell as much as 8.5 percent. Zinc for three-month delivery advanced 1.1 percent to $1,895.25 a ton on the London Metal Exchange.

The Hobart smelter gets most of its metal from the Zinifex Century mine in Queensland State and the Rosebery mine in Tasmania, according to the company.