The global zinc market reported a surplus of 480,000mt, while lead reported a 140,000mt surplus in the first 10 months of 2020, according to the latest International Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG) data. The latest data compares with a deficit of 216,000mt for zinc and 42,000mt for lead during the same 10 months last year.
During the 10 months under review, zinc mine production stood at 10.04mn mt, down from 10.66mn mt in January-October 2019. Lead mine production also fell to 3.69mn mt from 3.86mn mt during the same period under comparison, ILZSG noted.
Zinc metal production rose but declined for lead during the year till October. Zinc output inched up to 11.18mn mt in January-October 2020 from 11.07mn mt in the prior year period, while lead output fell to 9.5mn mt from 10mn mt during the same period.
However, in the first 10 months of the year, consumption of both metals declined against the prior-year period, with zinc usage falling to 10.7mn mt from 11.29mn mt, and lead consumption decreasing to 9.38mn mt from 10.04mn mt during this timeframe.
The zinc market recorded a surplus of 52,000mt in October, whereas lead recorded a deficit of 8,000mt during the same month with consumption exceeding production for the latter during the month.