Weakening Consumption, Declining Operating Rates of Galvanising Producers [SMM Galvanizing Weekly Review]

SMM May 22: The galvanizing industry operating rate was 59.82% this week, down 0.37 percentage points WoW. Raw material side, zinc prices fluctuated at highs this week, with downstream purchasing on dips for rigid restocking needs only, without large-scale stockpiling. Galvanising enterprise zinc ingot inventories edged up. By segment: Galvanized pipes: As ferrous metals prices weakened and rainfall was frequent in south China, end-use demand pulled back notably. Galvanized pipe traders mainly made rigid-demand purchases. Overall, galvanizing plants saw sluggish shipments and operating rates fell short of expectations. Some galvanized pipe factories took one day off during the week to avoid excessive finished product inventories, and operating rates pulled back. Galvanized structural components: Orders have shown off-season characteristics. New steel tower tender orders have not yet started, creating a slight gap between old and new orders, and these are mostly concentrated among large enterprises. PV orders remained weak, traffic guardrail orders showed mediocre performance, but export orders to Southeast Asia and Europe for galvanizing remained relatively robust. The operating rate next week is expected to remain flat WoW at around 59.84%.