Downstream demand showed some improvement, and zinc oxide enterprises saw an increase in operating rates [SMM Zinc Oxide Weekly Review].

SMM September 19:

       This week, the operating rate of zinc oxide recorded 58.11%, up 0.89 percentage points MoM. Raw material side, zinc prices pulled back this week, and some zinc oxide enterprises stocked up slightly, driving raw material inventory up MoM. Finished product inventories side, downstream enterprises restocked at low prices during the week, leading to a pullback in zinc oxide finished product inventories this week. Order side, current terminal orders from large enterprises are relatively stable, while some small enterprises saw a slight improvement in terminal orders recently. Among them, feed-grade and electronic-grade zinc oxide terminal orders remained generally good. For rubber-grade zinc oxide orders, downstream tyre factories resumed production gradually recently, driving a slight recovery in demand. However, ceramic-grade zinc oxide was affected by the still weak property market, leading to weaker performance in the coarse porcelain market. Looking ahead to next week, with the recovery in demand from some terminal sectors, zinc oxide enterprises' operating rates are expected to rise slightly to around 58.61%.