Zinc scrap prices in India fell for a third consecutive week amidst weak demand in the downstream industries.
The Davis Index for new zinc diecast settled at $1,588/mt, cfr India port, down by $55/mt Monday from the prior week.
With China, a major consumer of zinc scrap, at a standstill due to the Coronavirus outbreak, the global and domestic markets were oversupplied, pulling down its prices.
Secondary zinc ingot prices also fell in India by Rs2,500-5,833/mt ($35-81/mt) due to weak demand from auto industry, pipe manufacturers and zip manufacturers. Prices of zinc scrap which were on an uptrend till third week of January, started declining subsequently as LME zinc prices went on downtrend affected by the Chinese market shutdown. Decline in global prices pulled domestic scrap lower. The Davis Index for secondary zinc ingot settled at Rs164,617/mt ex-works Mumbai consumer, down by Rs5,833/mt Monday from the prior week. The index for ex-works Delhi settled at Rs169,950/mt, down by Rs2,500/mt Monday from the week prior.
Demand for galvanized goods remained sluggish despite the sector expecting to receive a push from the Indian government to galvanize steel for several new planned railway tracks, zinc galvanizers in Delhi said. Dross, which is manufactured by galvanizers, also faces low demand. The Davis Index for galvanizer’s dross settled at Rs155,200/mt in Mumbai, down by Rs5,000/mt and Rs155,617/mt in Delhi, down by Rs4,583/mt.
Prices of zinc alloy also fell in India in line with the LME.The three-month LME zinc contract fell by $46/mt and closed at $2,154/mt Friday from the prior week. Primary zinc manufacturers revised their prices for zinc in India to mirror the LME. Special high grade zinc prices in India were dropped by Rs2,800/mt to Rs182,900/mt Monday from the previously released prices on February 6.
Zamak producers have not received any orders from consumers for more than a week. Demand is lagging from all sectors which drove Zamak producers to halt their production. The Davis Index for Zamak #3 del India consumer settled at Rs187,331/mt down by Rs7,129 Monday, from the prior week and the weekly index for Zamak #5 settled at Rs190,331/mt down by Rs7,129/mt.
($1 = Rs71.32)