US zinc secondary alloys prices plunged by 5-6¢/lb amid a weak LME Zinc market and slow trading.
The official LME Zinc cash offers closed Tuesday at $1.1517/lb down from $1.2025/lb last week while the official three-month LME Zinc contract continued to decline for the third consecutive week, falling by $111/mt from last week to $2,562/mt on Tuesday.
The weekly Davis Index for Zamak #2 fell by 5.9¢/lb to $1.376/lb delivered US consumer. Zamak #5 declined by 6.1¢/lb to $1.361/lb delivered, while both Zamak #3 and Zamak #7 dropped by 6¢/lb to $1.346/lb delivered on Tuesday.
The weekly index for ZA 8 decreased by 5.4¢/lb to $1.396/lb while ZA 12 fell by 5.7¢/lb to $1.416/lb delivered US consumer. The index for ZA 27 plunged by 6.6¢/lb to $1.435/lb delivered.
Prices for zinc alloys have fallen by 12-13¢/lb from their highs at the beginning of the year, in tandem with the falling LME Zinc prices. The robust zinc alloys trading that was seen through most of January despite the lower LME Zinc market has tempered down now with suppliers seeing only sporadic purchases of mixed grades despite the lower prices. However, some producers have seen inquiries for purchases increasing at these levels.