MYSTEEL: China zinc price edges up, but demand weakens

China's national average price of primary zinc ingot (at least 99.995%) under Mysteel's assessment rebounded slightly to Yuan 25,938/tonne ($3,886.9/t) EXW including the 13% VAT as of May 20, an increase of Yuan 322/t on week, before dipping again over the weekend to Yuan 25,678/t as of May 23. The zinc price failed to gain strong upward momentum because downstream demand for the metal remains lacklustre, Mysteel's survey showed.

Although traditionally the spring-summer months are high-demand months for zinc in China, zinc consumption is muted under the impact of the spreading COVID-19 pandemic, a market watcher in Shanghai noted, predicting that demand is likely to stay weak in the near term. "Some end-users in Shanghai have gradually restarted their