[Monthly Production Declined: Refined Zinc Faces Dual Pressure from Raw Material Supply and Costs] Overall, refined zinc production release in April and May fell short of expectations, mainly because as ex-China mine disruptions increased and China's ore recovery remained limited, TCs accelerated downward. Imported TCs have already dropped to $39.25/dmt, while China's weekly TCs broke below historical lows to 850 yuan/mt in metal content...

Lead concentrate TCs remained generally stable this week. Some mine enterprises indicated that lead concentrate TCs had almost no room for further decline, while imported ore prices were still mainly quoted at -$150 to -$130/dmt. Affected by the recent tight supply-demand conditions of zinc concentrates and copper concentrates, some suppliers of lead concentrates rich in zinc and copper adjusted the pricing methods for copper and zinc. Although the comprehensive value of such copper- and zinc-rich lead concentrates was raised, the pricing of lead and precious metals within them remained unchanged, and the silver payable indicators for lead concentrates with various silver contents in the market remained firm.

[SMM Update] According to SMM, as of Thursday (April 30), zinc inventory in the Shanghai Bonded Zone stood at 3,300 mt, flat WoW, with bonded zone inventory unchanged.

The operating rates of galvanising producers this week were 61.21%, down 1.17 percentage points WoW. Raw material side, zinc prices pulled back to levels more acceptable to downstream this week. Downstream players stockpiled for the Labour Day holiday in a timely manner, and zinc ingot inventory at galvanising enterprises increased.

On April 29, Tibet Huayu Mining released its Q1 2026 production and operation data announcement. The report showed that in Q1 2026, zinc concentrates production totaled 2,070 mt in metal content, lead-antimony concentrates with silver content reached 1,489 mt in metal content, and gold concentrates reached 323.6 kg.

[Xingye Silver&Tin 2026 Q1 Report Released] On April 30, Xingye Silver&Tin released its 2026 Q1 report. The report showed that the company's revenue in Q1 was 9.8691 million yuan, up 85.32% YoY; net profit attributable to publicly listed firm shareholders was 7.6722 million yuan, up 257.32% YoY. By product, in Q1 the company produced ore-derived lead totaling 4,000 mt, ore-derived zinc totaling 15,000 mt, ore-derived silver totaling 78.95 mt, and ore-derived tin totaling 777.33 mt.

[Luoping Zinc & Electricity 2026 Q1 Report Released] On April 30, Luoping Zinc & Electricity released its 2026 Q1 report. The report showed that the company's revenue in Q1 was 290 million yuan, up 56.78% YoY; net profit attributable to publicly listed firm shareholders was -39.4574 million yuan, compared with -45.0088 million yuan in the same period last year.

[Zinc Concentrates Tender] According to SMM, the tender results from a mine in north China were released last week, with the self pick-up tender price at around 2,200 yuan/mt in metal content (including a 20/80 profit-sharing arrangement), where by-product metals were not priced separately. SMM will continue to monitor subsequent changes in TCs.

[Zinc Concentrates Tender] According to SMM, a mine in southwest China recently set its May zinc concentrates self pick-up tender price at around 800 yuan/mt in metal content, down nearly 600 yuan/mt in metal content MoM. SMM will continue to monitor subsequent changes in TCs.

[Imported Zinc Concentrates Market] Ahead of the Labour Day holiday, trading of imported zinc concentrates was relatively sluggish this week, but overall TCs remained at low levels, with offers for concentrates rich in by-product metals still around -$40 to -$50/dmt.