SHANGHAI, Mar 8 (SMM) – China's refined zinc output stood at 471,200 mt in February, falling 71,100 mt or down 13.1% on month and up 4.03% on year. For January-February, output totalled 1.01 million mt, up 3.26% from the same period last year. Zinc smelters produced 71,700 mt of zinc alloy in January, down 8.72% from the previous month. Among them, mineral zinc output stood at 394,745 mt in February, and secondary zinc output stood at 15,750 mt.

SMM survey showed that China's refined zinc output in February basically met expectations. The decline in domestic refined zinc output in February was mainly due to the seasonal shutdown or production control of smelters during the CNY. In addition, February only has 28 days and the production of other refineries that were in maintenance or resumed production from maintenance was basically in line with expectations.

The domestic refined zinc output in March is expected to increase 48,100 mt to 519,300 mt, which has not yet recovered to the January output level. According to SMM survey, some refineries that were suspended and took maintenance during the CNY will gradually resumed production in March, and the number of days in March increased by 3 days from the previous month. The total increase in refined zinc production was in line with expectations, but the reason why the production did not return to the January level was due to maintenance of refineries in Gansu, Xinjiang, Hunan and Yunnan regions. At present, TCs for domestic zinc ore are still at a low level. Operating rates of smelters under low profits will be monitored in the following weeks.