US zinc secondary alloys prices continued to decline on Tuesday amid drops in the LME Zinc market and the threat of reduction in automotive production due to a shortage of semiconductors.
The official LME Zinc cash offers closed Tuesday at $1.2025/lb slightly down from $1.2029/lb last week. The official three-month LME Zinc contract fell by $2/mt from last week, closing Tuesday at $2,673/mt from $2,675/mt on Jan 19.
The weekly Davis Index for Zamak #2 fell by 1.1¢/lb to $1.435/lb delivered US consumer. Zamak #5 reduced by a penny to $1.422/lb delivered, while both Zamak #3 and Zamak #7 declined by 1¢/lb to $1.406/lb delivered on Tuesday.
The weekly index for ZA 8 declined by 1.6¢/lb to $1.45/lb while ZA 12 fell by 1.3¢/lb to $1.473/lb delivered US consumer. The index for ZA 27 decreased, the least of all grades again falling by 0.6¢/lb to $1.501/lb delivered.
Business in the secondary zinc alloys market remains stable. However, producers are wary about a potential disruption in automobile manufacturing as the shortage of semi-conductors continues across the world. A decrease in auto production could likely reduce demand for zinc alloys and pull prices down further. For now, buyers are benefiting from the lower prices and picking up volumes.