US zinc secondary alloys prices varied on Tuesday in a volatile LME Zinc market.
LME Zinc cash offers fell on Tuesday to $1.36/lb from $1.38/lb in the previous week, while the official three-month LME Zinc contract, which began declining late last week dropped by $47/mt from Jun 1 to close at $3,017.50/mt today.
Zinc alloy prices were rangebound for most grades despite the drop in LME zinc prices this week reflecting the mixed sentiment among buyers who are concerned about the impact of the LME’s volatility on their buying decisions. Demand remains stable for now but is expected to soften if this trend continues as buyers will prefer to wait for some stability in the market before resuming their purchases.
Moreover, producers are grappling with rising raw material costs that are discouraging them from lowering their selling prices.
The weekly Davis Index for Zamak #2 declined by 0.7¢/lb to $1.598/lb delivered US consumer with both Zamak #3 and Zamak #7 slipping by the same amount to $1.558/lb delivered, respectively. Zamak #5 inched down by 0.2¢/lb to $1.578/lb delivered.
ZA 8 increased by 1.3¢/lb to $1.605/lb delivered while ZA 27 increased by 4.3¢/lb to $1.708/lb delivered on strong demand for this grade. The index for ZA 12, however, inched down by 0.2¢/lb to and $1.633/lb delivered US consumer.