SHANGHAI, Dec 7 (SMM) – Except for Shaanxi, the negotiations on zinc concentrate TCs in other regions have come to an end. Some smelters in Yunnan restocked goods in advance due to inflows restrictions from Myanmar and Vietnam and Chinese New Year at the end of January. These smelters demanded lower TCs and prepared for winter storage.

Smelters in north-west China reported that the current supply of concentrate was still tight. However, the demand for concentrate declined due to the reduction in capacity utilisation rate at some smelters in north-west China. Therefore, the estimated TCs in December are flat month-on-month. TCs in Hunan and Guangxi dropped by 100 yuan/mt in metal content, in line with expectation, as domestic TCs are in a downward trend as a whole. Mines in north China cut TCs by 100 yuan/mt in metal content. Some smelters said that TCs in December were unchanged on the month as sulphuric acid prices trended lower. The reduction was mainly a result of the recent pandemic in Manzhouli which has restricted the inflows of goods through customs declaration. Imported TCs quotations stabilised.