Prime zinc scrap grades fell in the week ending Sept 14 by 3-5pc, triggered by LME zinc’s downward trend. The official three-month LME zinc fell by $47/mt or 2pc and settled at $2,451/mt on Friday from the prior week.
The weekly Davis Index for zinc galvanizer’s dross in Mumbai Monday settled at Rs157,000/mt ($2136.64/mt) ex-works producer, down by Rs9,613/mt. With very few trades, offers were lowered in line with LME. Traders informed that the market is extremely range-bound and prices are fluctuating making it difficult for market participants to meet an equilibrium. Dross prices also fell as primary zinc prices were also down on LME.
In Delhi, the index for zinc galvanizer’s dross settled lower by Rs6,403/mt at Rs158,000/mt from the prior week amid an oversupply in Delhi. The market for zinc dross in Mumbai and Delhi weakened as spreads widened by 3pc and 2pc, respectively, from the previous week as domestic prices fell by 5pc in Mumbai and 4pc in Delhi while LME dopped 2pc.
Domestic prices of secondary zinc ingots fell in Mumbai and Delhi as demand from galvanizers and brass makers gradually reduced in the week ending Sept 7. The weekly Davis Index for secondary zinc ingot in Mumbai on Monday fell by Rs6,300/mt to Rs164,200/mt ex-works consumer as raw material prices are also down. The weekly Davis Index for secondary zinc ingot in Delhi Monday fell by Rs8,800/mt to Rs166,200/mt ex-works consumer.
The market for secondary zinc ingot debilitated as spreads for the same narrowed from the preceding week in Mumbai and Delhi. For Mumbai, spreads narrowed slightly by 1.57pc as domestic prices fell by 5pc from the previous week, while in Delhi it narrowed by 3pc.
The Davis Index for new zinc die-cast rose by $38/mt and settled at $1,943/mt cfr India port. Amid a shortage of quality scrap, offers from US are increasing driven by strong demand from Asian countries. Indian importers are still bidding around $1,880-1,890/mt as demand is predicted to fall. LME zinc has been falling for last seven sessions depicting high global inventories. The market for new zinc die-cast, however, strengthened as spreads for the scrap narrowed by 3pc from the prior year as prices rose by 2pc in the week.
Zinc Alloy
The domestic market prices for zinc alloy fell by 2pc from the preceding week. Manufacturers did not lament about low demand as that from auto and infrastructure sectors is stable.
The weekly Davis Index for Zamak #3 settled at Rs211,000/mt del India consumer and the index for Zamak#5 settled at Rs214,000/mt del India consumer on Monday.
Prices of primary zinc or Special High Grade (SHG) zinc was between Rs201,000-202,000/mt, down in line with LME zinc, said Zamak manufacturers and galvanizers who buy primary zinc.
Market participants reiterated that zinc market may have reached its peak and prices may fall in the coming weeks on the back of increasing COVID-19 cases, weak macro-economic indicators, forecast of economy to contract by 11pc in FY21 by Moody’s report.
($1=Rs73.48)