Enterprises shut down for the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, and the operation rate of die-casting zinc alloy declined [SMM Die-Casting Zinc Alloy Weekly Review]

This week, the operating rate of die-casting zinc alloy recorded 47.66%, down 4.48 percentage points WoW. Inventory side, driven by lower prices, raw material purchasing enthusiasm of die-casting zinc alloy enterprises increased this week. However, end-use demand remained weak, and many enterprises adopted moderate purchase volumes through point-price transactions, with a slow pace of cargo pick-up. As a result, raw material inventories only edged up slightly during the week, while finished product inventories edged down slightly driven by lower prices. The decline in operating rate this week was mainly because some enterprises had holidays for the Dragon Boat Festival, leading to a relatively significant drop in the rate. During the week, lower zinc prices prompted end-user hardware enterprises to buy the dip. However, in terms of actual demand, the market displayed clear off-season characteristics, with orders for traditional sectors, such as real estate-related hardware fittings, being weak. Downstream players mostly held a wait-and-see sentiment and maintained just-in-time procurement. Looking ahead to next week, as enterprises resume normal production, the die-casting zinc alloy operating rate is expected to rise and fluctuate around 50.61%.