Zinc Ingot Prices in Global Market

North America

Due to continuous slow end-user demand in the US, the Zinc ingot Prices declined in the fourth quarter of 2022. Imports were restricted in the mid-quarter due to China's Golden Week holiday leading to a shortage of material available in the US market. According to market analysts, during the quarter, ongoing supply disruptions, high inflation, and China's zero-COVID policy helped alleviate general concerns about a recession and dampen hopes for a rebound in the United States. The US supply chain, however, showed a steady improvement later in the quarter as the recessionary fears eased and the ports experienced a significant drop in ship backlogs after a prolonged port backlog.

Asia-Pacific

In the fourth quarter of 2022, the domestic Zinc ingot market in China showed stagnancy despite the rising Zinc prices. The export orders for China's industry producing Zinc ingot declined steadily in the mid-Q4 of 2022 due to the shutdown of industrial facilities for the Golden Week and staff shortage. The situation was further worsened by another rise in covid cases and consequent lockdowns. Consistent end-user industry demand during the fourth quarter has been mostly blamed for the overall pricing trend. Because they had enough inventory on hand, domestic producers and suppliers were able to meet all domestic demand for the whole quarter. Christmas holidays and the approaching Spring festival declined the market demand and industrial output.

Europe

The market prices of Zinc Ingot in the fourth quarter of 2022 followed the uptrend in the European market on account of increasing demand and limited inventories level in the regional market. Major manufacturers had to halt the operational rate in the German market due to elevated energy prices along with staff members. The manufacturers claimed that the price rose in order to meet the upstream industries' increased production costs as a result of rising energy prices. It was challenging for mills to reach their goal prices due to low demand from distributors and end users, notably the automotive industry, as well as from competitors' import offers. Due to the lack of end-user demand, however, spot buyers have not expressed much interest in making a purchase.

ChemAnalyst addresses the key problematic areas and risks associated with chemical and petrochemical business globally and enables the decision-maker to make smart choices. It identifies and analyses factors such as geopolitical risks, environmental risks, raw material availability, supply chain functionality, disruption in technology and so on. It targets market volatility and ensures clients navigate through challenges and pitfalls in an efficient and agile manner. Timeliness and accuracy of data has been the core competency of ChemAnalyst, benefitting domestic as well as global industry in tuning in to the real-time data points to execute multi-billion-dollar projects globally.