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| Catalyst | Price | Day [%] | Week [%] | Month [%] | Year [%] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| zinc | 3,025.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 26.4 |
Zinc is a solid transition metal that can be found in air, water, plants, animals, and humans. However, the majority of zinc is mined from the earth's crust. Zinc is used for many industrial processes and materials, but about half of the zinc mined globally is used to galvanize steel, which is widely used in sectors ranging from construction to infrastructure. and automobiles to home appliances, machinery and shipbuilding. The metal can be used as anti-corrosion agents, chemicals and as semi-manufacturing agents. Zinc is often used as part of alloys, especially in combination with copper such as brass. Much of zinc mining takes place underground, but this method of production accounts for more than half of all mining. The largest global zinc reserves are in Australia and China, although the world's two largest zinc producers are China and Peru.
As the demand for zinc in its galvanization was constrained by the skyrocketing costs of steel coils, zinc futures were trading at about $2,950 per tonne, a slight decline from the two-month high of $2,980 hit on March 14. Nevertheless, supply-side risks kept futures 5% higher this month. The lack of ores caused treatment charges to fall to an uncompetitive level, prompting major Australian smelter Nyrstar to announce a 25% reduction in output this year. China's output of refined zinc consistently fell by 7% last year, primarily as a result of lower processing rates brought on by the combination of low demand and raw material shortages. This came after recent estimates revealed that the production of zinc mined worldwide declined for the third year in a row in 2024. Also, the Red Dog Mine in Alaska, the worldÂ’s largest zinc mine, and responsible for 10% of global output, is due to slow in 2025 as it approaches its depletion of ore. Consequently, stocks of high-grade zinc in LME warehouses fell by 74,000 tonnes so far this year to 160,000 tonnes.
In 2020, the main zinc ore exporters are Australia ($1.38 billion), Peru ($1.01 billion), the United States ($860 million), Mexico ($631 million) and Bolivia ($566 million). . In 2020, the main importers of zinc ore were China ($2.12 billion), South Korea ($1.14 billion), Belgium ($596 million), Canada ($591 million) and Spain ($572 million).