Zinc scrap prices in India ended their three-week downtrend on Monday after an uptick in demand from the downstream industries.
Demand in consuming sectors like pipe manufacturing and galvanising picked up since the last week, giving Indian secondary ingot prices a lift. The weekly Davis Index for secondary zinc ingot settled at Rs172,200/mt ($2,412/mt) ex-works Mumbai consumer, up by Rs7,583/mt Monday. The index for secondary ingots ex-works Delhi settled at Rs170,450/mt, up by Rs500/mt.
The index for galvanizer’s dross in Delhi rose by Rs2,083/mt to Rs157,700/mt ex-works. The Davis Index for galvanizer’s dross settled at Rs152/mt in Mumbai, down by Rs2,283/mt.
As the Indian auto industry shows signs of revival, producers expect strong demand for dross. Dross is used in the production of zinc oxide, which is then used for the vulcanization of rubber tyres.
The Davis Index for new zinc diecast settled at $1,605/mt cfr India port, up by $17/mt Monday from the prior week.
Secondary alloys
Zinc alloy prices did not mirror the LME contracts this week. The LME zinc cash contract fell by $14/mt to close at $2138/mt on Feb 14, from the prior week. Indian Primary zinc manufacturers had last revised their zinc prices on Feb 10. The three-month LME zinc contract remained flat at Rs2,154/mt Friday from the prior week.
Demand for Zamak was healthy in the hardware industry and trades picked up in the week. With a revival in demand, Zamak producers who had halted production amidst global slowdown hope for transactions soon.
The Davis Index for Zamak #3 del India consumer settled at Rs189,143/mt up by Rs1,812 Monday, from the prior week. The weekly index for Zamak #5 settled at Rs192,143/mt up by Rs1,812/mt.
($1 = Rs71.37)