The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition this year's rally in zinc just evaporated. A Bloomberg dispatch to The Globe says that after jumping about 10 per cent through May 5, the metal has now erased its gains for the year. Standard Chartered PLC and Macquarie Group say concerns of a looming shortage have been overblown, and the cost to obtain supplies is declining in the United States and Asia. At the same time, China is producing more metal than it needs. With gluts in everything from copper, wheat and crude oil, zinc was considered one of the few raw materials in short supply. Even though warehouse inventories tracked by the London Metal Exchange are near a five-year low, analysts now say there is far more metal held elsewhere. "The rally has fizzled out," said David Wilson, a London-based analyst at Citigroup Inc. "I've been a huge disbeliever of the inventory trends and significantly improving fundamentals in zinc." Stockpiles tracked by the LME fell for 29 days, adding to evidence of tight supplies. JPMorgan, however, predicts there are about one million tonnes of zinc in facilities not monitored by any exchange, enough to supply the United States for a year.