SMM

SHANGHAI, Aug 22 (SMM) - According to SMM survey, the average operating rate of zinc oxide enterprises stood at 54.5% last week, up 0.6 percentage point on the week. In terms of raw material inventory, the prices of zinc broke record highs over and over again within days last week, preventing downstream enterprises from purchasing despite a fair zinc slag coefficient. In terms of orders, amid limited overall market orders, enterprises lowered their prices to compete for consumers and received varied sales results. In terms of finished product inventory, greatly fluctuating zinc prices made it difficult to sell finished products, thus most zinc oxide enterprises reported significant increases in inventories on the week. It is expected that zinc oxide enterprises will maintain low operating rates this week.