A forecast report from the Sydney branch of Citibank stated that the prices of both zinc and aluminum metals are expected to rise sharply in 2005 due to an increase in the supply gap for raw materials and increased demand from China. At the same time, the report also raised the estimates of the prices of base metals such as copper, nickel and lead. In this forecast report, written by Alan Shipp, Citigroup’s commodity analysts believe that the market trend of the supply of zinc and aluminum is less than this year is quite obvious, and each has a significant supply gap. This year, the aluminum price estimate rose by 3% to 1938 US dollars per ton, and the zinc price was raised by 11%, up by 1146 US dollars per ton. In 2004, on the London Metal Exchange in the UK, the average spot aluminum price was $1,719 per ton, and the spot zinc price was $1,048 per ton. (Wang Longyun)