The latest statistics published by the International Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG) indicates that global refined zinc market was in deficit of 255,000 tons during the initial eleven-month period in 2014. The total reported zinc inventories declined by 326,000 tons during the same period.
The zinc mine output reported declines in Australia, Canada, India, Ireland and Namibia. However, the fall in output was covered with the increased mine output from other countries including China, Mexico, Peru, Sweden and the United Sates. Overall, the zinc mine output grew by 1.9% during the initial eleven months of 2014, in comparison with the previous year.
The refined zinc metal production during the eleven-month period totaled 12.296 million tons, 4.16% higher when compared with the 11.805 million tons output during corresponding eleven-month period in 2013. The rise in refined zinc metal output was mainly due to increased output from China.
The global demand for refined zinc metal increased by 5.4% to 12.551 million tons during the initial eleven-month period in 2014. The Chinese apparent usage increased by 10.5%. The US reported a demand rise of 3.9%. On the other hand, apparent consumption in the Europe region declined by 1.6%.
The global mine production during the month of Nov ’14 alone totaled 1.213 million tons. The refined zinc metal output during the month totaled 1.207 million tons. The global demand for the metal totaled 1.190 million tons during the month.