SMM April 30 News:
With the Labour Day holiday about to arrive, SMM conducted a survey on the holiday arrangements and market demand of some die-casting zinc alloy plants and zinc oxide plants in the market. The following is the specific situation of each enterprise.
Die-Casting Zinc Alloy:
During the 2026 Labor Day holiday, die-casting zinc alloy enterprises had an average holiday duration of 2.7 days, a decrease of 0.2 days year-on-year (involving 630,000 tons of production capacity, affecting zinc consumption by 4,844 tons). This was mainly due to some enterprises that took holidays last year resuming normal production this year amid improved orders, thereby pulling down the average holiday length (excluding such enterprises, the holiday duration would have increased by 0.1 days year-on-year).
Looking at recent overall order trends, some enterprises reported relatively good demand for apparel zipper orders, while auto parts orders remained generally stable, but demand for daily-use hardware was relatively weak. On the export front, orders from Southeast Asia remained relatively stable, while exports to the Middle East continued to be affected. Overall, in April, the terminal consumption of the die-casting zinc alloy sector was mediocre due to high zinc prices, with some enterprises reporting weaker demand compared to March. At the end of the month, as prices fell, enterprises saw increased opportunities for restocking and sales, leading to a modest recovery in transactions. Due to price and demand factors, most die-casting zinc alloy enterprises still generally took holidays during the 2026 Labor Day holiday.
Zinc Oxide:
According to SMM, due to production processes, production cycles, and cost considerations, few zinc oxide enterprises took holidays during the 2026 Labor Day holiday. This survey covered 6 large-scale zinc oxide plants, with the rest being small and medium-sized enterprises (involving a total production capacity of 326,000 tons). SMM learned that some small-scale zinc oxide plants had suspended production in mid-April due to weak end-user demand and are expected to resume production after the Labor Day holiday.
In terms of recent demand, large-scale zinc oxide plants maintained relatively stable orders, but industry profits remained thin, and low-price competition across various products was fierce. Meanwhile, the feed-grade zinc oxide sector was relatively sluggish recently, prompting some enterprises to bring forward their regular annual equipment maintenance to the first half of the year. Ceramic-grade zinc oxide continued to be constrained by housing market demand, making outstanding performance unlikely. Electronic-grade zinc oxide, despite relatively strong market demand, had limited overall consumption. Overall, during the 2026 Labor Day holiday, the zinc oxide industry exhibited a diverging pattern of "large enterprises maintaining stability while some small and medium-sized enterprises suspended production."
