Zinc price history, 1960 to 2026

LME cash, special high grade averaged $4,021/t in September 2026, +37% over twelve months and +75% over ten years. The nominal all-time high was $4,405/t in December 2006; in 2024 dollars the real peak was $11,502/t in May 1974. Monthly averages, World Bank Pink Sheet.

Show latest price in Converted from USD at the latest available monthly average rate (Federal Reserve via FRED); the chart and tables below stay in USD.

LME cash, special high gradeZinc, high grade 98% pure (IMF)

Dashed lines: OPEC oil embargo (Oct 1973); Iranian Revolution (Jan 1979); Iraq invades Kuwait (Aug 1990); Asian financial crisis begins (Jul 1997); September 11 attacks (Sep 2001); Lehman Brothers collapse (Sep 2008); Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident (Mar 2011); OPEC holds output steady amid oversupply (Nov 2014); COVID-19 declared a pandemic (Mar 2020); Russia invades Ukraine (Feb 2022); Israel-Hamas war begins (Oct 2023). Hover a line for the source of its date.

Derived price statistics per series
Series	Latest	1 month	12 months	5 years	10 years	20 years	All-time high (nominal)	All-time high (real, 2024 US$)
LME cash, special high grade $/t, since 1960	4,021 September 2026	+4%	+37%	+32%	+75%	+18%	4,405 December 2006	11,502 May 1974
Zinc, high grade 98% pure (IMF) $/t, since 1992	3,875 August 2026	+8%	+39%	+30%	+70%	+16%	4,381 December 2006	6,800 November 2006

Percentage changes compare the latest monthly average with the monthly average 1, 12, 60, 120 and 240 months earlier. Real prices deflate by the US consumer price index (BLS via FRED) to 2024 dollars.

Prices are monthly benchmark averages that may lag the market; informational only, not investment, legal or trade advice. For what these benchmarks mean and how they are set, see how zinc is priced.

Monthly zinc prices by decade

Choose a decade. Values are monthly averages in the unit shown; blank cells mean no quote was published.

LME cash, special high grade ($/t)

LME cash, special high grade monthly prices, 1960s, $/t
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
1960	261	245	249	255	254	250	249	241	240	242	241	228	246.3
1961	218	228	233	231	227	218	215	211	204	198	192	197	214.3
1962	194	190	191	191	189	185	182	178	177	182	189	185	186.1
1963	186	192	198	204	209	209	205	210	211	221	232	261	211.5
1964	264	271	277	299	343	357	385	345	355	334	345	343	326.5
1965	322	320	316	316	323	314	310	304	300	308	299	303	311.3
1966	303	300	301	279	270	272	265	265	271	276	288	286	281.3
1967	280	282	279	272	275	274	267	269	265	264	287	266	273.3
1968	263	260	258	258	262	262	266	269	263	262	264	269	263
1969	269	267	272	273	279	281	284	294	299	299	310	310	286.4

LME cash, special high grade monthly prices, 1970s, $/t
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
1970	302	298	296	293	292	293	298	298	300	297	293	289	295.8
1971	285	272	284	284	288	309	318	323	311	337	344	359	309.5
1972	380	390	397	395	386	371	364	364	368	364	379	375	377.8
1973	387	422	474	513	549	656	842	914	976	1,163	1,625	1,623	845.3
1974	1,330	1,516	1,630	1,743	1,782	1,410	1,097	1,066	911	825	794	771	1,240
1975	799	794	803	783	747	751	707	737	724	706	705	686	745.2
1976	692	690	728	789	774	750	776	741	712	639	604	642	711.4
1977	692	703	719	655	611	542	542	520	518	511	525	538	589.7
1978	518	478	507	553	562	578	584	618	634	713	695	687	593.9
1979	720	793	795	789	778	754	722	665	724	707	702	751	741.7

LME cash, special high grade monthly prices, 1980s, $/t
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
1980	774	870	743	708	692	678	714	769	796	805	802	784	761.3
1981	777	731	751	824	851	840	865	955	939	892	877	846	845.7
1982	819	823	790	743	750	692	727	716	750	751	710	669	745
1983	699	681	678	698	736	718	740	809	838	859	859	857	764.3
1984	958	998	1,041	1,004	1,001	942	854	834	873	844	855	860	922
1985	867	887	921	931	881	808	767	735	690	632	598	685	783.5
1986	644	609	626	660	707	804	807	816	871	886	820	798	754
1987	760	740	732	762	839	878	830	804	757	770	848	866	798.8
1988	879	876	982	1,069	1,177	1,365	1,237	1,309	1,330	1,520	1,559	1,594	1,241
1989	1,734	1,932	1,962	1,656	1,628	1,539	1,617	1,730	1,629	1,585	1,438	1,455	1,659

LME cash, special high grade monthly prices, 1990s, $/t
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
1990	1,297	1,397	1,607	1,686	1,775	1,715	1,637	1,615	1,538	1,353	1,278	1,265	1,514
1991	1,206	1,188	1,199	1,253	1,091	1,062	1,063	1,046	1,023	992	1,093	1,188	1,117
1992	1,154	1,131	1,215	1,304	1,373	1,385	1,320	1,360	1,367	1,164	1,047	1,058	1,240
1993	1,061	1,072	996	1,005	980	926	928	884	874	915	928	974	961.9
1994	997	969	936	924	956	966	964	945	992	1,059	1,152	1,114	997.8
1995	1,157	1,032	1,022	1,061	1,036	1,010	1,027	1,014	986	979	1,031	1,018	1,031
1996	1,019	1,036	1,064	1,045	1,036	1,009	1,000	1,007	1,000	1,003	1,047	1,036	1,025
1997	1,087	1,179	1,255	1,240	1,311	1,354	1,518	1,654	1,641	1,280	1,173	1,102	1,316
1998	1,097	1,044	1,048	1,097	1,061	1,010	1,040	1,030	1,000	941	967	959	1,025
1999	933	1,017	1,030	1,019	1,040	1,001	1,072	1,131	1,194	1,149	1,147	1,184	1,076

LME cash, special high grade monthly prices, 2000s, $/t
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
2000	1,179	1,095	1,116	1,128	1,157	1,118	1,136	1,170	1,224	1,096	1,059	1,060	1,128
2001	1,033	1,021	1,005	969	938	895	852	828	799	762	773	755	885.8
2002	793	771	819	808	770	767	795	748	756	755	765	798	778.8
2003	781	785	791	755	776	791	828	818	818	898	915	978	827.8
2004	1,017	1,088	1,106	1,033	1,028	1,021	988	976	975	1,065	1,096	1,180	1,048
2005	1,246	1,326	1,372	1,300	1,244	1,276	1,194	1,298	1,398	1,488	1,611	1,822	1,381
2006	2,090	2,219	2,417	3,085	3,566	3,226	3,340	3,347	3,403	3,823	4,382	4,405	3,275
2007	3,787	3,310	3,271	3,557	3,831	3,603	3,546	3,253	2,881	2,975	2,541	2,353	3,242
2008	2,340	2,438	2,511	2,264	2,182	1,894	1,852	1,723	1,735	1,302	1,153	1,101	1,875
2009	1,187	1,112	1,217	1,379	1,484	1,557	1,579	1,822	1,884	2,072	2,193	2,376	1,655

LME cash, special high grade monthly prices, 2010s, $/t
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
2010	2,434	2,157	2,275	2,367	1,968	1,743	1,844	2,045	2,151	2,372	2,292	2,281	2,161
2011	2,372	2,465	2,341	2,362	2,167	2,234	2,398	2,200	2,075	1,871	1,935	1,905	2,194
2012	1,982	2,058	2,036	2,002	1,936	1,859	1,848	1,818	2,010	1,904	1,912	2,040	1,950
2013	2,032	2,129	1,926	1,856	1,832	1,839	1,838	1,899	1,847	1,885	1,866	1,975	1,910
2014	2,037	2,035	2,008	2,027	2,059	2,128	2,311	2,327	2,295	2,277	2,253	2,176	2,161
2015	2,113	2,098	2,029	2,213	2,282	2,082	2,001	1,808	1,720	1,724	1,583	1,528	1,932
2016	1,520	1,710	1,802	1,855	1,869	2,026	2,183	2,279	2,292	2,312	2,566	2,665	2,090
2017	2,715	2,846	2,777	2,615	2,590	2,573	2,787	2,981	3,117	3,265	3,229	3,196	2,891
2018	3,442	3,533	3,269	3,188	3,060	3,089	2,656	2,512	2,435	2,674	2,596	2,616	2,923
2019	2,570	2,707	2,851	2,933	2,743	2,601	2,447	2,273	2,332	2,452	2,425	2,273	2,551

LME cash, special high grade monthly prices, 2020s, $/t
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
2020	2,354	2,113	1,904	1,903	1,975	2,026	2,177	2,410	2,442	2,441	2,672	2,780	2,266
2021	2,705	2,745	2,792	2,829	2,966	2,952	2,948	2,988	3,036	3,360	3,311	3,399	3,003
2022	3,599	3,620	3,962	4,360	3,751	3,630	3,105	3,588	3,125	2,967	2,939	3,129	3,481
2023	3,310	3,134	2,967	2,768	2,476	2,375	2,405	2,407	2,496	2,449	2,544	2,502	2,653
2024	2,515	2,360	2,461	2,733	2,959	2,809	2,777	2,714	2,837	3,106	3,004	3,034	2,776
2025	2,819	2,800	2,889	2,622	2,644	2,655	2,763	2,789	2,933	3,152	3,177	3,168	2,868
2026	3,213	3,324	3,182	3,364	3,482	3,539	3,599	3,875	4,021				3,511

Zinc, high grade 98% pure (IMF) ($/t)

Zinc, high grade 98% pure (IMF) monthly prices, 1990s, $/t
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
1992	1,158	1,135	1,218	1,305	1,378	1,385	1,320	1,363	1,367	1,158	1,052	1,061	1,242
1993	1,068	1,074	996.8	1,006	979.3	928.2	930.1	886.8	875.7	918.6	929.4	975.5	964
1994	998.6	969.8	937.6	924.3	956.7	966	962.6	946.9	993.5	1,060	1,150	1,113	998.2
1995	1,155	1,031	1,022	1,059	1,037	1,008	1,028	1,015	988	980.4	1,033	1,017	1,031
1996	1,020	1,036	1,063	1,044	1,037	1,009	1,001	1,008	999	1,003	1,044	1,037	1,025
1997	1,086	1,178	1,254	1,240	1,310	1,355	1,517	1,651	1,638	1,277	1,171	1,101	1,315
1998	1,096	1,043	1,047	1,096	1,060	1,008	1,044	1,029	999.6	941.4	966	961.6	1,024
1999	931.8	1,018	1,029	1,018	1,040	999.9	1,071	1,130	1,193	1,148	1,146	1,185	1,076

Zinc, high grade 98% pure (IMF) monthly prices, 2000s, $/t
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
2000	1,179	1,098	1,113	1,133	1,154	1,116	1,136	1,173	1,222	1,092	1,059	1,059	1,128
2001	1,033	1,022	1,006	970.1	938	896.9	853.3	830	799.5	761.7	774.3	758	886.8
2002	794.2	773.5	820	807.6	768.3	769.4	795	748.8	756.2	755.1	764.6	794.3	778.9
2003	782.3	785.6	790.3	756.7	776.1	790.6	828.5	815.2	818.9	900.1	914.2	976.8	827.9
2004	1,016	1,086	1,102	1,029	1,031	1,019	988.1	976.8	980	1,067	1,100	1,182	1,048
2005	1,246	1,323	1,374	1,298	1,246	1,273	1,197	1,301	1,397	1,483	1,611	1,819	1,381
2006	2,092	2,220	2,428	3,068	3,545	3,198	3,321	3,340	3,394	3,830	4,379	4,381	3,266
2007	3,785	3,321	3,256	3,567	3,848	3,629	3,546	3,244	2,888	2,980	2,555	2,379	3,250
2008	2,364	2,458	2,511	2,279	2,178	1,906	1,856	1,735	1,745	1,303	1,169	1,113	1,885
2009	1,203	1,118	1,223	1,388	1,493	1,557	1,581	1,818	1,879	2,071	2,197	2,374	1,658

Zinc, high grade 98% pure (IMF) monthly prices, 2010s, $/t
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
2010	2,415	2,159	2,277	2,368	1,970	1,747	1,847	2,047	2,151	2,374	2,283	2,287	2,160
2011	2,376	2,473	2,341	2,371	2,160	2,234	2,398	2,199	2,075	1,871	1,935	1,911	2,196
2012	1,989	2,058	2,036	2,003	1,928	1,856	1,848	1,816	2,010	1,904	1,912	2,040	1,950
2013	2,031	2,129	1,929	1,856	1,831	1,839	1,838	1,896	1,847	1,885	1,866	1,975	1,910
2014	2,037	2,035	2,008	2,027	2,059	2,128	2,311	2,327	2,295	2,277	2,253	2,176	2,161
2015	2,113	2,098	2,029	2,213	2,282	2,082	2,001	1,808	1,720	1,724	1,583	1,528	1,932
2016	1,520	1,710	1,802	1,855	1,869	2,026	2,183	2,279	2,292	2,312	2,566	2,665	2,090
2017	2,715	2,846	2,777	2,615	2,590	2,573	2,787	2,981	3,117	3,265	3,229	3,196	2,891
2018	3,442	3,533	3,269	3,188	3,060	3,089	2,656	2,512	2,435	2,674	2,596	2,616	2,922
2019	2,570	2,707	2,851	2,933	2,743	2,601	2,447	2,273	2,332	2,452	2,425	2,273	2,550

Zinc, high grade 98% pure (IMF) monthly prices, 2020s, $/t
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Average
2020	2,354	2,113	1,904	1,903	1,975	2,026	2,177	2,414	2,442	2,441	2,672	2,780	2,267
2021	2,705	2,745	2,792	2,829	2,970	2,952	2,948	2,988	3,036	3,360	3,311	3,399	3,003
2022	3,599	3,620	3,962	4,371	3,770	3,653	3,105	3,590	3,125	2,967	2,939	3,117	3,485
2023	3,296	3,134	2,967	2,770	2,486	2,375	2,405	2,405	2,495	2,447	2,544	2,511	2,653
2024	2,521	2,360	2,458	2,726	2,955	2,809	2,777	2,721	2,847	3,106	3,004	3,034	2,777
2025	2,825	2,798	2,887	2,611	2,643	2,655	2,763	2,790	2,937	3,152	3,177	3,162	2,867
2026	3,207	3,324	3,182	3,355	3,478	3,539	3,594	3,875					3,444

Method

Nominal prices are the source's monthly averages in US dollars, stored in the source's unit and never mixed on one chart. Real prices divide each month by the US consumer price index for all urban consumers (BLS series CPIAUCSL, via FRED) and multiply by the 2024 average, so they read as "2024 dollars". Changes are ratios of monthly averages. The all-time high is the highest monthly average, not an intraday peak.

Downloads

All series and statistics as JSON
Monthly prices as CSV (LME cash, special high grade)
IMF series are shown as charts and statistics only; download them from the IMF Primary Commodity Price System.

Cite as: Commodity Origins, "Zinc price history (1960–2026)", https://commodityorigins.com/prices/zinc/, data 2026-10-02. Data updated 22 October 2026.