Zinc Oxide Production Edged Down [SMM Zinc Oxide Weekly Review]

The zinc oxide industry operating rate came in at 59.42% this week, edging down 0.28 percentage points WoW. Zinc prices continued to rise during the week, with domestic zinc prices running steadily above 24,000 yuan/mt. Enterprises were relatively cautious in raw material procurement, with inventories basically flat WoW. On finished product inventories, affected by suppressed downstream order-taking sentiment due to high prices, some enterprises saw slower warehouse withdrawal pace, and finished product inventories increased WoW. Currently, large factories' capacity maintained normal release, while some small and medium-sized enterprises saw no significant increase in orders. On the contrary, orders weakened due to high prices, causing the operating rate to edge down. From the end-user order perspective, large tyre factories maintained stable demand recently, and rubber-grade zinc oxide operated relatively steadily overall. In the ceramic-grade zinc oxide segment, demand from colored glaze, ink, and glass sectors was relatively good recently. Feed-grade zinc oxide demand remained lackluster, constrained by the sluggish hog market. Looking ahead, the zinc oxide industry operating rate is expected to fluctuate around 59.80% next week.