High-Priced Orders Suppress Demand, Die-Casting Zinc Alloy Operating Rates Decline [SMM Die-Casting Zinc Alloy Weekly Review]

SMM November 14 News:

      The operating rate for die-casting zinc alloy this week was 50.3%, down 0.65 percentage points WoW. Raw material inventories declined overall as some enterprises reduced spot order purchases and focused on digesting long-term contracts from the beginning of the month. Finished product inventories were basically flat compared with last week, as production contracted in sync despite a slowdown in the shipment pace at some firms. The operating rate continued to drop this week, mainly due to production cuts caused by weaker orders at some enterprises. End-use demand side, production schedules and shipments at some large manufacturers remained relatively stable, but some companies reported that order demand slowed down due to rising zinc prices, with overall market performance weaker than earlier. Next week, overall consumption in the alloy market is not expected to show significant bright spots, and given the high price sensitivity of small hardware orders, the die-casting zinc alloy operating rate is expected to fluctuate rangebound around 50.64%.