Zinc

[winston]

Smelting constraints make zinc's price plunge look overdone

By Pratima Desai

Projects that will deliver more zinc concentrate to market include Vedanta's Gamsberg mine in South Africa and three Australian projects, namely Dugald River owned by MMG, another mine run by New Century Resources and Glencore's Lady Loretta mine.

Wood Mackenzie analyst Jonathan Leng expects supplies of zinc concentrate to rise by 300,000 tonnes in 2018, 900,000 tonnes in 2019 and 1.25 million tonnes in 2020.

Stocks of zinc in LME approved warehouses, which now stand at 239,625 tonnes, are down 60 percent since September 2015 when Glencore slashed 500,000 tonnes of annual zinc production.

China accounts for about half of global zinc consumption estimated at around 14 million tonnes this year.

Goldman sees a zinc deficit of 522,000 tonnes in 2018 and a shortfall of 120,000 tonnes in 2019, while Citi sees a 335,000 tonne deficit this year and 164,000 tonne surplus next year.

The construction industry accounts for about 50 percent of global demand, while the rest is mainly distributed between transport, infrastructure, consumer products and industrial machinery.

Source: Reuters

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/smelting ... 05385.html

[winston]

Zinc price has been plummeting, for example, despite the fact that supplies of the metal at the London Metal Exchange (LME) are close to their lowest levels of the last two decades.

[winston]

Indian zinc miner sees output rebounding in 2019-20 financial year

By Sudarshan Varadhan

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL) (HZL), the world's second largest zinc miner, expects its output to grow in 2019/20 after a drop in the previous financial year, a senior executive said, a move that could put pressure on global prices.

The company's refined zinc production fell 12 percent in 2018/19 to 696,000 tonnes due to the closure of its open cast mines, prompting a switch to underground mines. The company did not give a figure for the expected output rise in 2019/20.

"The capacity increase will happen towards the middle of the year. We expect to show growth," a senior company executive said, asking not to be named, adding that formal guidance would be issued on Thursday.

HZL, majority owned by Vedanta Group which is controlled by billionaire Anil Agarwal, is betting on higher use of galvanized steel by automakers and more investment in infrastructure to meet demand from India's expanding middle class.

Zinc prices, the second best LME performer in the year to date after nickel with gains of 14 percent, are expected to be weighed down by rising supply this year, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday.

The refined zinc market has been tight due to bottlenecks in processing rising output from mines into metal. But analysts now expect excess supplies to weigh on prices.

Source: Reuters

https://finance.yahoo.com/m/ed416e5f-08 ... s-far.html

[winston]

Zinc - Lower; US$2355 from US$2441 from US$2449;
a. Global Demand: +14% pa for past 4 years
b. Supply: 13.7 tons; Supply Deficit 1.2m tons;
b. Breakpoint: High US$4400 (2007); Low $1600 (Jan 2016)
d. Used to prevent rusting, zinc oxide (paints), brass (copper), coins, fertilizer
e. Zinc inventories at the LME have dropped to their lowest level since 2009
f. Vehicle: DB Base Metal (Zinc, Aluminum & Copper); MMG

[winston]

Graphic: Zinc stocks in Singapore's LME warehouses suggest unusually large surplus

by Pratima Desai

Source: Reuters

https://in.reuters.com/article/metals-z ... NKCN24T1SQ

[behappyalways]

LME Zinc Hits 14-Year High As European Smelters Halve Output Amid Energy Crunch
https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/l ... rgy-crunch

[winston]

China power curbs shutter 500,000 tonnes of zinc smelting capacity — CRU

Sichuan province ordered industrial plants to suspend production from Aug 15 to Aug 20 to prioritise residential power supply amid its worst heatwave in 60 years.

Follows deeper production cuts in Europe due to sky-high energy prices.

China is usually a net importer of the metal, but earlier this year turned net exporter as premiums overseas were attractive.

Source: Reuters

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/ ... %80%94-cru

[behappyalways]

Column: Trickle of LME zinc deliveries turns into a flood
https://www.mining.com/web/column-trick ... o-a-flood/