Tight Supply of Zinc Ore Persists, Zinc Concentrate TCs Continue to Decline [SMM Zinc Concentrates Weekly Review]

SMM News on November 7:

Domestic zinc concentrate TCs continued to decrease this week. On a weekly basis, the SMM Zn50 domestic weekly TC average dropped by 200 yuan/mt in metal content WoW to 2,650 yuan/mt in metal content, while the SMM imported zinc concentrate index fell by $4.17/dmt WoW to $98.37/dmt.

In the spot market, smelters continued to negotiate November zinc concentrate TCs in the first week of the month. Although the SHFE/LME price ratio recently improved, losses on imported zinc concentrates remained around 2,000 yuan/mt in metal content, prompting smelters to continue scrambling for domestic zinc concentrates, leading to further TC reductions in many regions. For imported zinc ore, offers from traders were chaotic recently, with some traders continuing to lower TC offers. Recent offers for ordinary zinc ore stood at $60-100/dmt, and imported zinc concentrate TCs continued to weaken. Additionally, it was heard that a trader and a smelter concluded a deal for Antamina zinc concentrate to be shipped in December, with the TC settled around $90/dmt for a volume of 10,000 mt. Recently, some zinc-rich ore was also traded at $80-90/dmt for a volume of 30,000-40,000 mt, with shipments scheduled in batches starting recently.

According to an announcement by Luoping Zinc & Electricity, on November 3, 2025, Jinpo Lead-Zinc Mine, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yunnan Luoping Zinc & Electricity Co., Ltd., obtained a new Work Safety License issued by the Guizhou Provincial Department of Emergency Management. The license is valid from November 3, 2025, to November 2, 2028, permitting underground mining of lead-zinc ore at a scale of 200,000 mt/year. After obtaining the Work Safety License, the wholly-owned subsidiary actively and orderly carried out various pre-production resumption preparations in accordance with regulatory requirements.

This week, SMM zinc concentrate inventories at main ports in China totaled 348,800 mt in physical content, up 25,500 mt in physical content WoW, with Lianyungang contributing the main increase.