US zinc secondary alloys prices declined for the second successive week following a decline in LME Zinc on Tuesday.
LME Zinc cash offers fell to $1.29/lb from $1.35/lb on Jun 15, while the official three-month LME Zinc contract, dropped by $159/mt to close at $2,855/mt today.
Demand has been robust as many end-consumers return to business as usual. Moreover, more buyers finalized deals in the spot market this week to benefit from significantly lower prices, which have slipped after two consecutive months of increases. With alloy premiums remaining stable, the market has been driven by the LME in the past few weeks.
The weekly Davis Index for Zamak #2 declined by 6.6¢/lb to $1.515/lb delivered US consumer with both Zamak #3 and Zamak #7 dropping 7.3¢/lb to $1.475/lb delivered, respectively. Zamak #5 moved down by 7¢/lb to $1.495/lb delivered.
ZA 8 declined by 7.4¢/lb to $1.525/lb delivered while ZA 27 inched down by 0.2¢/lb to $1.625/lb delivered. The index for ZA 12, moved down by 6.7¢/lb to and $1.555/lb delivered US consumer.
Like other markets, the zinc alloys business is restrained by high freight costs and a shortage of trucks, with some producers seeing freight prices double over the past few weeks. Buyers are expected to take advantage of the low prices and adequate supply to fill their volumes over the next couple of weeks before retreating to the sidelines until there is more stability in the market.