Refined Zinc Metal Production Rose Marginally

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The International Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG) announced the preliminary data for world zinc supply and demand during the initial six months of the current year. The refined zinc metal market ended in a deficit of 17 kt during this period. The provisional figures does not include Chinese trade data for the three-month period from April to June this year, ILZSG noted.

The refined zinc metal production rose marginally by 2.1% from 6.492 million tonnes during Jan-June ’17 to 6.627 million tonnes during the first half of 2018. Belgium, Canada, Japan, Norway and Peru reported higher production. However, the rise in production in the above countries was partially offset by production decline in the U.S. and India. The monthly output totaled 1.119 million tonnes in July ’18.

The world zinc mine production too registered marginal decline by 2.4% over the previous year to total 6.068 million tonnes during the first half of the year. The increased production from European region, especially by Finland, Greece, Ireland and Serbia were more than offset by notable reductions in Australia, China and India. The mine production totaled 1.026 million tonnes in July this year.

The global usage of refined zinc metal witnessed small reduction of 0.6% when compared with the previous year. The lower year-on-year usage at 6.644 million tonnes was primarily influenced by drop in apparent demand in South Africa, Taiwan and the U.S.