This week, the operating rate of die-casting zinc alloy enterprises was recorded at 49.90%, down 1.83 percentage points WoW. Inventory side, after the New Year's Day holiday, the center of zinc prices moved up significantly, purchasing enthusiasm among die-casting zinc alloy enterprises was low, even enterprises with purchasing demand mainly purchased as needed, market stockpiling activities were limited, pushing down raw material inventory; finished product inventories side, end-users were also suppressed by high prices, purchase demand was mediocre and cargo pick-up pace slowed down, leading to a significant accumulation of finished product inventories at die-casting zinc alloy enterprises. The decline in die-casting zinc alloy operating rates this week was mainly due to some enterprises still being on holiday during the first half of the week, coupled with the impact of rising prices affecting enterprise shipments, causing some enterprises' operating rates to decline. Terminal order level, demand across various sectors weakened this week, new orders from enterprises were mostly concentrated in just-in-time procurement supported by actual orders. Additionally, the price spread between copper and aluminum rose significantly recently, the zinc-aluminum spread narrowed, the zinc-copper spread widened, and die-casting zinc alloy enterprises in the market raised TCs. Looking ahead to next week, due to the impact of high finished product inventories, it is expected to cause a slight decline in operating rates for some enterprises, and the die-casting zinc alloy operating rate is expected to decrease and fluctuate around 49.35%.
