Steel Products Prices North America

Zinc Prices Soar as Zinc Traders Bullish

Written by Tim Triplett

October 12, 2017

Zinc prices continue their rally that began in early 2016, taking the metal’s price to a 10-year high and raising the cost of producing galvanized steel and other products. Zinc prices have managed to breach the psychological ceiling of $3,000 per metric ton, which stalled rallies in November 2016 and February 2017. Breaking this ceiling on heavy trading volume signals strength for zinc, reports MetalMiner.com.

Zinc prices have continued to increase this month, although the pace of the increases has slowed, said Lisa Reisman, executive editor of MetalMiner. The cash price for zinc on the LME as of Oct. 11 was $3,305 ($1.50 per pound). “Trading volumes still support the price uptrend. In other words, trading volumes remain strong, although we can expect some sideways movement or a pullback, as these price movements are common after sharp rallies.”

MetalMiner’s recently released annual metals outlook report states that the rally in zinc seems set to continue as base metals remain bullish. The refined zinc market remains in a deficit. World zinc mine production has increased by 5.4 percent due to increased output from Peru and India. Chinese demand has decreased by 2.1 percent, while the United States has contributed to an increase in global usage of 0.6 percent. Chinese rebar and hot dipped galvanized have also supported zinc prices this year. In the event of increasing HDG demand (auto sales), zinc may continue to find support. No price ceiling has yet been defined for zinc prices.

While zinc prices remain highly volatile, MetalMiner forecasts that LME 3M zinc prices could average $3,300 per metric ton in 2018.

To date SMU has seen zinc coating price increases out of NLMK USA, AK Steel, USS/POSCO and California Steel, but not yet from Nucor, U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal. We continue to use U.S. Steel extras in our Price Estimator on our website and in our .060″ G90 galvanized index.

Tim Triplett

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