Prices for secondary zinc alloys decreased slightly due to volatility in the LME zinc market over the past week.
Weekly LME Zinc prices continued to trend up with the official LME Zinc cash price settling Tuesday at $2,978.50/mt ($1.3510/lb) up by $8.50/mt from Aug 3.
Still, LME zinc cash settlements have fluctuated considerably over the past week, rising to as much as $3,040/mt on Aug 2 and dropping to $2,957/mt on Aug 9, before recovering to their current levels on Tuesday. These fluctuations have resulted in fewer spot deals as participants wait for prices to stabilize before returning to the market.
Producers remain constrained by rising raw material costs and consumers by longer delivery times due to transportation shortages, causing a backlog in orders. Still, the medium- to long-term fundamentals of this market remain strong, especially with the automotive sector’s demand reviving in the near term.
The weekly Davis Index for Zamak #2 fell by 0.9¢/lb to $1.581/lb delivered US consumer. Zamak #5 dropped by 0.7¢/lb to $1.563/lb delivered while both Zamak #3 and #7, declined by 0.4¢/lb to $1.546/lb delivered.
ZA 27 was the only alloy grade to remain unchanged at $1.70/lb delivered, while ZA 8 dropped by 0.5¢/lb to $1.595/lb delivered and ZA 12 fell by a penny to $1.62/lb delivered US consumer.