Global Zinc market ends in surplus during first half of 2015

By  Paul Ploumis 24 Aug 2015  Last updated at 06:02:31 GMT

According to WBMS statistics, the global zinc market has ended in a small surplus of 257 kt during Jan-June '15.

BRUSSELS (Scrap Monster): According to the latest published metals balances report by the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS), the worldwide zinc market has recorded a marginal surplus during January to June this year. During the entire year 2014, the global zinc market had recorded deficit.

As per WBMS data, the global zinc market recorded small surplus of 257 kt during the initial six months of the year from January to June in 2015. It should be noted that the worldwide zinc market had reported a deficit of 145 kt during the entire year 2014.

Global refined zinc production witnessed rise of 7.7% during the six-month period. The Chinese production of locally refined zinc surged higher by nearly 14.2% when compared with the corresponding six-month period in 2014.

The global demand for the metal has improved by 74 kt when matched with January to June in 2014. The Chinese apparent demand fell by 0.3% over the previous year to 3,101 kt. It accounted for just under 46% of the global refined zinc demand. The Japanese demand for the metal dropped 3.3% when matched with the levels recorded during Jan-June ’14. The Japanese demand during the six-month period totaled 243.1 kt.

The reported stock of the metal has declined by 67,000 tonnes during the six-month period. The LME zinc stocks increased by 13.1 kt during the month of June and accounted for 41% of the global stock of the metal.

The Chinese zinc metal imports reduced significantly during Jan-June ’15 to 197.5 kt when compared with the imports of 379.5 kt during the same period last year.

The slab zinc production during June this year totaled 1,215.2 kt. The consumption during the month totaled 1198.8 kt.