The average operating rate of zinc oxide enterprises was 61.2% last week, up 4.9 percentage points from the previous week. Raw material inventories slid as companies were cautious in purchasing amid the fluctuations in zinc prices and due to the consumption of raw materials during the holidays. In terms of orders, downstream enterprises still had raw material inventories after the holidays. They were also pessimistic over the processing fees as well as the selling prices of zinc oxide given lower prices of alkali and other auxiliary materials. As such, downstream orders cooled down. The holiday-driven production shutdown of some plants caused a significant decline in the operating rates, but the production basically returned to normal last week, raising operating rates. Zinc oxide operating rates will stay at the current level this week.



