Some enterprises replenished finished product inventories, and operating rates of galvanising producers rose slightly. [SMM Weekly Review of Galvanizing]

SMM August 8 News: This week, the operating rates of galvanising producers reached 57.35%, up 0.57 percentage points WoW. In terms of raw material inventories, zinc prices were low at the beginning of the week, prompting some enterprises to restock at lower prices. However, as zinc prices rebounded, the restocking sentiment weakened, and zinc ingot inventories rose slightly. The main reason for the weekly increase in operating rates was that some enterprises took holidays last week to digest inventories, while some large factories increased their production days this week. However, due to the ferrous metals prices being mainly in the doldrums, the sales of galvanized pipes were poor, and most enterprises still focused on digesting inventories. Overall, the operating rates rebounded slightly, while finished product inventories increased. For galvanized structural parts, steel tower tenders saw an increase in volume, and the overall operating rates of steel tower enterprises remained good. However, tender prices were generally low this year, resulting in thin corporate profits and underutilized production schedules. Other sectors showed no significant improvement, with export orders decreasing due to tariff issues in Southeast Asia. The operating rates of structural parts enterprises remained poor, and most enterprises were still pessimistic about consumption. It is expected to pull back to 57.18% next week.