Steel Products Prices North America

Zinc and Aluminum Price Update

Written by Brett Linton

March 10, 2014

Zinc and aluminum prices are something to keep an eye on when you’re involved with coated products such as galvanized or Galvalume steels. At current zinc price levels, the amount of zinc needed to coat 0.060″ thick G90 coil costs approximately $1.98 per cwt (based on zinc calculation shared with SMU from a domestic coating mill – costs can vary depending on the over coat as well as procurement costs). Compare this to zinc prices six months ago, when prices were around $0.8300 per lb, and the zinc cost for the mills would have been $1.78 per cwt. That’s a different of $0.20 per cwt or $4.00 per ton in just the zinc cost to the mills.

Over the past week, Zinc prices dropped from $0.9781 per lb (the highest levels since February 2013) to $0.9200 per lb as of 3:30 PM Tuesday. This one week change is $0.0581 per lb or a 5.9 percent. Prices today are now comparable to what we were averaging in the second week of February 2014.

However, zinc prices are still above what we were seeing in most of 2013.

Aluminum prices are currently at $0.7707 per lb, down 2.6 percent from a high of $0.7911 per lb last Tuesday.

Aluminum prices over the past few weeks are at a 4+ year low and have been on a consecutive decline since December early 2013. (Source: Kitco.com)

Brett Linton

Brett Linton is a senior analyst for Steel Market Update, where he began his career. Linton has been in the steel industry since 2010. He has held roles as a category manager and strategic insights director at Reibus before returning to SMU in 2024. He is a graduate of The University of North Georgia with a degree in Finance and Accounting. Brett can be reached at brett@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-314-0179.

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