The operating rate of die-casting zinc alloy recorded 51.79% this week, up 0.12 percentage points WoW. The zinc price center moved lower this week, coupled with the successive arrival of long-term contract raw materials at die-casting zinc alloy enterprises, which increased raw material inventories at enterprises during the week. On the finished product inventory side, the decline in zinc prices led end-user hardware enterprises to buy the dip, driving down finished product inventories at die-casting zinc alloy plants. The die-casting zinc alloy enterprise operating rate edged up slightly this week, mainly due to improved destocking at some enterprises recently, which helped lift the operating rate slightly. However, overall market demand in the die-casting zinc alloy industry is currently weak, with flat demand in the traditional hardware sector. Some enterprises reported that real estate hardware fittings performed weaker YoY. Additionally, demand for various zipper orders has been mediocre recently, with clear off-season characteristics. Demand for electronic product orders is relatively stable, but overall volume is relatively small. Looking ahead to next week, the operating rate of die-casting zinc alloy enterprises is expected to fluctuate around 51.55%.
