Chinese Zinc Smelters to Cut Concentrate Usage as Losses Deepen
- Firms agree to adjust maintenance plans and delay capacity
- Refined zinc output set to ease further from December record
Chinese smelters, which supply over half the world’s refined zinc, have too much capacity compared with the supply of concentrate.
Source: Bloomberg
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China’s biggest zinc smelters pledged to reduce their intake of concentrate to stem deepening losses on refining the metal, a measure that’s likely to further reduce production in the world’s top supplier.
Processors will cut their ore demand this year by nearly 1 million tons on a metal-contained basis, from their estimate at the start of 2024, according to a statement issued by state-owned research firm Beijing Antaike Information Development Co. The statement didn’t given a total figure.