US zinc secondary alloys prices increased by 4-5¢/lb in tandem with rising LME Zinc prices and an uptick in demand.
The official LME Zinc cash offers closed Tuesday at $1.2077/lb up from $1.1517/lb last week while the official three-month LME Zinc contract increased after three straight weeks of decline, rising by $121/mt from last week to $2,683/mt on Tuesday.
The weekly Davis Index for Zamak #2 moved up by 4.9¢/lb to $1.425/lb delivered US consumer. Zamak #5 increased by 4.4¢/lb to $1.405/lb delivered, while both Zamak #3 and Zamak #7 rose by 4.9¢/lb to $1.395/lb delivered.
The weekly index for ZA 8 and ZA 12 also increased by 4.9¢/lb to $1.445/lb delivered and $1.465/lb delivered US consumer, respectively. The index for ZA 27 surged by 5¢/lb to $1.485/lb delivered.
Zinc alloys prices started recovering this week after falling 12-13¢/lb from their highs at the beginning of January. Suppliers believe that the current recovery is in line with the increases in the LME zinc market. However, demand is also increasing gradually with more producers getting inquiries for purchases going into the next quarter.