SMM March 14 News:
This week, the operating rate of zinc oxide recorded 60.4%, up 2.69% MoM. Raw material side, zinc prices rose this week, and zinc oxide enterprises mainly made just-in-time procurement, with raw material inventories remaining basically flat compared to last week. Finished product inventories saw a slight decrease this week, driven by improved downstream order demand in certain sectors. Order side, overall orders for rubber-grade zinc oxide remained relatively normal, with stable demand from downstream tyre factories. For ceramic orders, some enterprises reported that as downstream enterprises resumed operations, there was restocking demand from downstream traders and end-users of zinc oxide enterprises, leading to a recovery in overall orders and steady improvement in downstream demand. For feed orders, large enterprises maintained stable feed orders, while small and medium-sized enterprises also reported relatively good performance in feed and auxiliary material orders. However, enterprises noted that attention should be paid to updates on livestock inventory levels. Other segments showed no significant changes in orders. Operating side, the increase in the operating rate of zinc oxide enterprises this week was mainly due to the resumption of production by some enterprises during the week, which boosted overall production. With the improvement in end-user orders, the operating rate of zinc oxide enterprises is expected to reach 61.31% next week.
