Average Operating Rate of Zinc Oxide Enterprises Falls to 63.8% Last Week

SHANGHAI, Mar 27 (SMM) - According to SMM survey, the average operating rate of zinc oxide enterprises was 63.8% last week, down 2.4 percentage points from the previous week. In terms of raw material inventory, some small and medium-sized galvanising enterprises shut down due to environmental protection-related production restrictions, resulting in a decrease in the zinc slag supply in the market. Large factories carried high zinc slag stocks, but they were less willing to ship at lows amid the falling zinc prices, pushing up the zinc slag coefficient. In such a context, more and more zinc oxide enterprises preferred zinc ingots, thus driving up the raw material inventories. Consumption in north China and south China diverged. Some zinc oxide enterprises in the south said that their tire-related orders were good, and in the case of falling zinc prices, the downstream companies were active in restocking. Those companies planned to ramp up production in the near future. On the other hand, orders received by companies in the north were average, especially the direct-processed zinc oxide, and the operating rates of some enterprises plunged.