India: Special high-grade zinc ingots prices rise on restocking demand

The weekly domestic zinc market has shown signs of an uptrend as prices are increasing due to the restocking of material which has led to a supply shortage in the market.

A few traders have restocked high-grade ingots in considerable quantities as they foresee that the price is likely to remain strong in the near term. So, they can get better realisation by holding sufficient stocks in their hands.

SteelMint's assessment of domestic special high-grade zinc is at INR 380,000/t ($4,979/t) exw-Delhi, an increase of over 3% or close to INR 12,000/t w-o-w. Improved buying interest and disruption in the supply chain in the domestic market are factors resulting in the price hike, trader sources said.

Also, the shortage in global markets like Europe amidst production cuts by particular smelters owing to high energy prices and diminishing stocks at LME-registered warehouses was a major factor that strengthened prices across regions.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), one-month futures contract prices of special high-grade zinc traded at around INR 373,000/t ($4887/t), a hike of around 0.07%. MCX zinc stocks remained at around 55 t as on 12 Apr'22, down almost 88% w-o-w. On a monthly basis, stocks edged down by 89.5%.

On the London Metal Exchange (LME), zinc cash prices settled at $4,472/t, with a decrease of 1 % d-o-d and an increase of around 5% w-o-w.

The three-month contract price settled at $4,412/t, with a decrease of 1% d-o-d and an increase of 4.2% w-o-w. Stocks remained at 115,600 t, lower by around 2% d-o-d and down around 9.5% w-o-w on 14 April.

Notably, zinc stocks of zinc witnessed a sharp 42% decline on 14 April as against 199,325 t in the beginning of the CY'22.