[SMM Analysis] Skorpion will shut down zinc smelter for six months to affect production or more than 40, 000 tons

SMM10, 10 March:

Skorpion Zinc, a subsidiary of Skorpion Zinc International, a subsidiary of Vedanta Zinc, will close its zinc smelter at the RoshPinah mining base at the end of October and is expected to close for a period of six months to accumulate its depleted ore stocks again.

Vedanta Zinc has a total of 13 mines, with a total mine output of 2.344 million metal tons in 2018 and a smelter for the Skorpion zinc industry. The smelter has an annual capacity of 90, 000 tons of refined zinc and 84200 tons of refined zinc in 2018, which is expected to affect the supply of more than 40, 000 tons of refined zinc during the shutdown period.

The closure of the smelter will further ease the supply of foreign zinc concentrate and tighten the supply of refined zinc again. At present, the LME zinc inventory is relatively low, or lead to the expansion of overseas back structure again.