Global Zinc Ingot Price Declined Slightly at The Start of February, Amidst Market Uncertainty

In the week ending February 2024, the price of Zinc Ingot showed a stable price trend across the global spot market as the demand from the downstream industries remained flat. The market players are indicating the declining overseas Chinese economy to be the major cause of the plunging market trend, as they are the major consumers of Zinc Ingot on a global level. Furthermore, Mining activity has been at a lower rate in the European region as the plunging consumption rate poses a threat to mining companies and provokes them to slow down their operations and cut jobs. The upcoming infrastructural development projects across the globe and recovering macroeconomic factors would support the upliftment of the future prices for Zinc Ingot in the International markets.

Zinc Ingot faced a price decline, amid ongoing concerns about China's economic slowdown. China's official PMI data reported the fourth consecutive month of factory activity contraction, fueling investor uncertainty about the country's economic growth trajectory. Surprisingly, the Caixin China General Manufacturing PMI expanded in January 2024, beating expectations for the third straight month of growth. The decision by a few Zinc Ingot manufacturers to scale down operations, due to low zinc prices, added to negative sentiment. The Swedish miner Boliden's, Europe's largest zinc mine, announced to shrink their operations at its Tara zinc mine in Ireland. The plant was put on hold due to the maintenance upgrade in June 2023 and restarted at the start of Q1 2024. The mine is planning to lay off workers for the time being amidst the plunging market trend and is expected to restart in the second quarter of 2024.

Meanwhile, the mining activity at the new Russia’s new Ozernoye mine, a recent Zinc mining site in Russia, has been extended till the third quarter of 2024. The mine, initially scheduled to commence production by the conclusion of 2023, was anticipated to serve as a key catalyst for the growth of global mine production in the current year. In November 2023, a fire adversely affected the equipment imported from an overseas nation within a section of Ozernoye's plant. Subsequently, the challenges of finding a replacement abroad were compounded by the US sanctions imposed on the company in December. This affected the Zinc Ingot prices in the global spot market. Moreover, the consumption of Zinc Ingot from the Chinese construction and Infrastructural development industries kept the global Zinc Ingot price on a damping trend. The buyers remained in a wait-and-watch situation and placed minimal orders on a need-on-demand basis.

According to ChemAnalyst, the price of Zinc Ingot is anticipated to remain stable for the upcoming weeks amidst an uncertain market trend. Furthermore, the downstream automotive sector is anticipated to keep the Zinc Ingot prices on a firm rising trend as the Electric Vehicle industry shows a prominent growth rate in the forthcoming months.