Zinc Oxide Operating Rate Declines, Market Demand Is Weak [SMM Zinc Oxide Weekly Review]

This week, the zinc oxide operating rate recorded 49.75%, down 0.83 percentage points WoW. Inventory-wise, the center of zinc prices moved significantly higher this week, leading to weak purchasing enthusiasm among zinc oxide enterprises, and raw material inventories declined; for finished product inventories, some enterprises had recent maintenance and production cuts, which drove a slight decline in finished product inventories. The lower operating rate of zinc oxide enterprises this week was mainly because enterprises that planned to resume production recently are still in the equipment commissioning stage, and affected by demand, some market enterprises suspended production. End-use demand side, downstream sectors overall remained weak this week, with the tire industry experiencing sluggish shipments and more production cuts and suspensions; ceramic-related demand also weakened, with off-season characteristics persisting; feed-grade zinc oxide demand continued to be sluggish, and rigid demand transactions were mediocre. Looking ahead to next week, as some enterprises gradually resume production, the zinc oxide operating rate is expected to edge up to 51.84%.