China Zinc Concentrate Imports Remained High in December 2022 and January 2023

SHANGHAI, Feb 14 (SMM) - According to customs data, China imported 415,200 mt of zinc concentrates in December 2022, down 7.58% on the month, but up 72.8% on the year. The imports totalled 4.13 million mt last year, a year-on-year increase of 13.34%.
Imports from Australia were 140,800 mt in December 2022, accounting for 33.91% of the total imports, ranking first. This was followed by 47,500 mt from Peru (11.44% of the toal), 38,100 mt from the Plurinational State of Bolivia (9.18% of the total).
The high import volume in December 2022 was driven by smelters stocking up for winter and upcoming Chinese New Year (CNY) holidays, as well as attractive TCs of imported zinc concentrates.
 In January, overseas zinc ore continued to flow into China as suppressed operating rates of overseas smelters hurt the demand for zinc ore. Driven by lucrative profits, the domestic smelters generally maintained high operating rates during the CNY holidays, except for maintenance by a few smelters. Moreover, the high TCs of imported ore also attracted smelters. As such, SMM estimates that China’s zinc concentrate imports might have stayed at a high level in January.