Zinc consumption in Asia is on the rise and two major sectors — galvanised steel and batteries — are in no mood to calm down at present, pointing towards a further rise in the use of the metal.
According to reports, the consumption during January-September 2007 on a y-o-y amounted to 4,505,000 tonnes in Asia, an increase of 4.67 per cent as compared with 4,304,000 tonnes in the corresponding period last year.
The strong demand has come at a time when its average price was $3,452 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange (LME) during the period under review, as compared with $ 2,965 a tonne in the same period in 2006. Zinc currently trades at about $2,320 a tonne on LME (see Zinc News ).
Market experts said the weakness in prices will continue in 2008, too, as the global refined. Zinc metal production is expected to increase 7.8 per cent to 12.2 million tonnes in the year and (see Zinc News).
Hindustan Zinc will increase production with the commencement of its 170,000-tonne zinc smelter operations.
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