Japanese Earthquake Has Limited Affect on Zinc Demand in China

SHANGHAI, Mar. 21 (SMM)--Nonferrous metals markets were all affected by the earthquake in Japan, but SMM believes the effect on zinc demand will be less than on other commodities.

The closure of three major Japanese automobile manufacturers or post-earthquake reconstruction should not have any significant affect, either negative or positive, on China’s zinc market. According to SMM statistics, domestic galvanized output during 2010 was 28.29 million mt, with exports of 4.9 million mt, but with no detailed data for exports to Japan available. According to statistics from China Customs, galvanizing exports to India were 107.8 kt, which was relatively low, so exports to Japan would be even lower. Zinc consumption would be only 4,500 mt based on galvanized exports of 100 kt. But with China’s zinc exports only 43 kt during 2010 as a result of export restrictions on zinc products, refined zinc exports to Japan accounted for only 2%.