Refined Zinc Market Deficit Widened During Jan-Aug ‘17

SPOKANE (Scrap Monster): The latest supply and demand statistics published by the Lisbon, Portugal-based International Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG) indicates that global refined zinc market deficit widened further during initial eight-month period of the current year.

According to preliminary data compiled by the trade body, the global zinc market ended in a deficit of nearly 287,000 tonnes during January to August this year. Assuming that the current trends prevail during the rest of the year, the world zinc market is estimated to post a full-year deficit of over 430,000 tons, said analysts. The total reported zinc inventories have declined by 274,000 tonnes during the above-mentioned period, ILZSG noted.

During the eight-month period, global zinc mine output reported modest growth, registering a jump of nearly 3.9% upon comparison with the corresponding eight-month period in 2016. The mine production from major producing nations including Eritrea, India, Turkey and Peru reported increases. However, the rise in output from these countries was partially offset by mine output declines in Australia and the US.

The refined zinc metal production during the initial eight months of 2017 totaled 8.941 million tonnes, marginally lower by 0.1% when compared with the 8.952 million tonnes output during corresponding eight-month period from January to August last year. The refined zinc metal output from India rose significantly over the previous year. On the other hand, refined output reported sharp declines in other producing countries including Canada, the Republic of Korea, China and Thailand.

The global demand for refined zinc metal rose marginally by 0.6% to 9.228 million tonnes during January to August this year, as compared with 9.173 million tonnes during the same period last year. The apparent zinc metal usage by China reported marginal decline of 1.3% during the first eight months of 2017. The usage by Europe too fell marginally by 0.9%. However, the drop in usage was offset by strong apparent usage by Japan, Taiwan and the US.

Interestingly, Chinese net imports of zinc contained in concentrates increased sharply by 38.9% during Jan-August ’17 in comparison with the corresponding period in 2016. The country’s imports of zinc contained in zinc concentrates totaled 714,000 tonnes. The Chinese net imports of refined zinc metal tumbled by nearly 5.3% to 302,000 tonnes during Jan-Aug ’17.

The preliminary data released by the ILZSG indicates that global zinc mine output totaled 1.083 million tonnes during the month of August alone. The global refined zinc metal production totaled 1.115 million tonnes, whereas global zinc demand totaled 1.155 million tonnes during the month.