Exclusive: China's refined zinc output rose 7.95% on the month to 549,500 mt in September

SHANGHAI, Oct 13 (SMM) – China's refined zinc output stood at 549,500 mt in September, rising 40,500 or up 7.95% on month and up 6.57% on year. Zinc smelters produced 81,000 mt of zinc alloy in September, up 4% from the previous month.

SMM survey showed that China's refined zinc output in September basically met expectations as some smelters in Henan, Inner Mongolia, Guangdong and other regions resumed production after the maintenance. In addition, some refineries in Shaanxi and Sichuan continued to increase production. The reduction of refined zinc was mainly concentrated in smelters in Gansu which were undergoing maintenance.

Although TCs for zinc concentrate in some areas fell on a month-on-month basis, there are no refineries planned to carry out maintenance in China according to the scheduled production of various smelters in October. From inventories of zinc concentrate raw materials in smelters, the overall inventory days of zinc concentrate raw materials in smelters still maintained at 26 days, down one day from the previous month.

SMM expects refined zinc output to increase 14,900 mt to 564,400 mt in October. In addition, Xinjiang Zijin Smelter plans to start production in mid-November.