"The entire metals sector is consolidating," Jean-Luc Deleersnyder, Union Miniere's executive vice-president and in charge of its zinc business, told reporters. "Strategically speaking, such a movement in the zinc sector is unavoidable."

He said there had been much less consolidation so far in the zinc sector than in copper and aluminium. He said that although there were no specific scenarios on the table, Union Miniere -- one of the world's biggest zinc producers -- was actively looking for partners.

"We want to be there or at least be one of the big players when it happens," he said. Union Miniere was already working with various partners on a commercial scale and in researching new processes, he said.

"But at the moment any talks about cooperation are limited to working together on projects not about mergers or taking overstakes," he said.Deleersnyder noted that on a global scale there were three companies of comparable size to Union Miniere: Australian Pasminco, Canadian Cominco and Korea Zinc.

Deleersnyder said he expected the price of zinc to be positive in 2000, compared with this year. "Most players see the price of zinc around $1150 to $1200 per tonnes," he said. "In 1999 the average price was $1060 per tonne." Zinc is one of Union Miniere's more profitable businesses.

It brings in between 20 to 25 per cent of the company's capital and accounts for about 38 per cent of its profitability. In the first half of 1999 Union Miniere made a net profit of 21.5 million euros (US$21.91 million) on a turnover of 1,602.2 million euros.

It had made a 18.1 million euros net profit a year earlier but posted a loss of 2 billion Belgian francs (US$50.53 million) for the full 1998 financial year, largely due to severe technical problems at its Hoboken smelter.

The zinc business was expected to continue expanding in coming yearsbut Deleersnyder would not say by how much. "We do not have any quantitative forecasts," he said.

Growth was likely to take place via the development of new processes and the geographic expansion of the company, he said. "We have no specific plans but are looking at various possibilities," he said.