Alloy enterprises saw an increase in trade volume this week, while the operating rate of die-casting zinc alloy enterprises declined. [SMM Die-Casting Zinc Alloy Weekly Review]

SMM September 19:

      This week, the operating rate for die-casting zinc alloy recorded 53.78%, down 0.21 percentage points WoW. Raw material side, zinc price center moved downward this week, and most die-casting zinc alloy enterprises made small purchases at fixed prices, leading to an increase in enterprise raw material inventories. Finished product inventories side, driven by lower zinc prices during the week, end-users conducted small pre-holiday stockpiling at low prices, resulting in a decrease in finished product inventories this week. In terms of end-user orders, domestic orders side, demand from the relatively large real estate sector remained mediocre, while motorcycle and auto parts orders performed relatively well, but demand for daily-use hardware orders, such as luggage zippers, remained average. Export orders side, affected by front-loaded export orders in H1, recent Christmas export orders underperformed compared to previous years. Currently, low-priced alloys in the market have a significant impact on enterprises, and some alloy plants are gradually shifting towards trading, reducing their own production and instead purchasing externally sourced alloys for operation and production. Next week, some die-casting zinc alloy enterprises are expected to take early holidays, and the operating rate is projected to decline to around 53.29%.