US zinc secondary alloys prices climbed down by 1-2¢/lb on Tuesday in tandem with a drop in LME Zinc prices.
LME Zinc cash offers fell on Tuesday to $1.34/lb from $1.39/lb in the previous week, while the official three-month LME Zinc contract, which had hit a record high of $3,000/mt on May 17 dropped by $73/mt from May 18 to close at $2,982/mt today.
The weekly Davis Index for Zamak #2 declined by 1.7¢/lb to $1.583/lb delivered US consumer with Zamak #3 and Zamak #7 falling by the same amount to $1.547/lb delivered, respectively. Zamak #5 also dropped by 1.7¢/lb to $1.563/lb delivered.
ZA 8 declined by 1¢/lb to $1.60/lb delivered while ZA 12 fell by 1.7¢/lb to and $1.623/lb delivered. The index for ZA 27 dropped more significantly by 4.7¢/lb to $1.663/lb delivered.
Rising raw material prices have kept zinc alloys prices high. The bull run on LME Zinc last week had spurred them up further amid strong demand for zinc alloys. Still, buyers are now beginning to question these high prices. Suppliers, however, believe that it would be difficult to drop prices because higher costs for procuring metals like copper, aluminum, and magnesium are adding a larger premium to alloy prices.