MMG reported zinc production of 106,000 tonnes for the first half of 2026, representing 48% of its full-year zinc guidance of 215,000-235,000 tonnes. Dugald River in Australia produced 87,000 tonnes of zinc, up 3% year on year, while maintaining recoveries above 90%. Rosebery produced 19,000 tonnes of zinc. Dugald River’s EBITDA rose 92% year on year to US$127 million, supported by higher zinc and by-product prices. At Rosebery, silver production increased 45% to 1.40 million oz and gold production rose 9% to 15,400 oz, resulting in C1 costs of negative US$2.23/lb after by-product credits. MMG maintained its 2026 zinc production guidance.

【Domestic Zinc Concentrate Market】According to SMM, domestic mine supply disruptions have continued recently, while some smelters have resumed production following maintenance shutdowns. SMM expects China's refined zinc production to increase month-on-month in August, resulting in a market characterized by tighter concentrate supply and stronger demand. Meanwhile, the domestic-to-overseas zinc price ratio continued to deteriorate this week, encouraging smelters to actively procure domestic zinc concentrates. As a result, August domestic zinc concentrate treatment charges (TCs) declined further from July levels.

[Smelters Purchase as Needed, Imported Zinc Concentrate TCs Continue to Decline]: Based on weekly data, the SMM Zn50 domestic weekly TC average remained flat WoW at -1,150 yuan/mt Zn, and the SMM Imported Zinc Concentrate Index fell WoW by 5.38 $/dmt to -103.5 $/dmt....

Fresnillo reported revenue of $3.38 billion for the six months ended June 30, 2026, up 74.7% year on year. Its average realised by-product lead price was $0.87/lb, down 2.3% year on year, while the average realised by-product zinc price rose 27% to $1.55/lb. Attributable by-product lead production increased 8.8% year on year, supported by higher ore grades at Fresnillo and Juanicipio and partly offset by lower grades at Saucito. Attributable by-product zinc production was broadly stable. The company maintained its 2026 guidance for attributable lead production of 54,000–59,000 t and attributable zinc production of 85,000–95,000 t. Attributable silver output in H1 was 22 million oz, down 11.4% year on year, while attributable gold output fell 7.3% to 290,900 oz.

[SMM Zinc Morning Comment: Insufficient Fundamental Support Led to Noticeable Pullback from Highs in Night Session SHFE Zinc] Overnight, the most-traded SHFE zinc 2609 contract opened at 25,250 yuan/mt, hitting a high of 25,250 yuan/mt before rapidly consolidating and pulling back. It touched a low of 24,780 yuan/mt during the session, then rebounded slightly from the low, ultimately closing down at 24,920 yuan/mt, a decline of 460 yuan/mt..

[SMM Zinc Morning Meeting Minutes: Nearby Month Squeeze Bulls Continue to Push Up Zinc Prices, LME Zinc Hits Four-Year High]: Overnight, LME zinc opened at $3,645.5/mt, initially fell and then rose, hitting a high of $3,703.5/mt during the session, then continuously pulled back from the high, and near the end of the session dipped to a low of $3,618/mt, finally closing down at $3,634/mt, losing $6/mt, or 0.16%. Trading volume increased by 4,655 lots to 18,193 lots···

Ivanhoe Mines released its second-quarter 2026 results on July 30. Its Kipushi mine in the DRC produced a record 70,177 tonnes of zinc during the quarter at a cash cost of $0.90/lb. The concentrator processed a record 200,774 tonnes of ore, averaging 38.7% zinc, while recoveries averaged nearly 92%. The company maintained Kipushi’s 2026 zinc production guidance of 240,000–290,000 tonnes and expects the mine to rank among the world’s three largest zinc mines this year. At Kamoa-Kakula, quarterly copper production reached 64,328 tonnes, with inventory build and temporary constraints affecting performance; management plans to destock inventory in the second half. Further attention should be paid to Kipushi’s second-half delivery against guidance and cost trends.

As of July 28, LME zinc inventories (including off-warrant stocks) had fallen to 119,600 mt, down by approximately 45,000 mt from mid-June. As overseas inventories continued to decline, the LME zinc market structure shifted from contango to backwardation, with the backwardation widening further. By July 28, the LME zinc cash-to-3M spread had strengthened to US$61.09/mt.

[Zinc Ingot Export Window Opening? A Nearly 20-Year Rare Opportunity Reemerges!] As of July 28, LME zinc inventory (including non-registered warrants) had pulled back to 101,800 mt, down about 20,000 mt from mid-June. Amid continued destocking outside China, the LME zinc market structure shifted from contango to backwardation, and the backwardation structure kept widening. On July 28, the LME zinc Cash-3M spread strengthened to $61.09/mt. In stark contrast, zinc consumption in China remained in the traditional off-season, with SMM-reported social inventory of zinc ingots across seven domestic markets holding steady at a high level of around 260,000 mt. The supply-demand patterns in China and overseas clearly diverged, and the SHFE/LME zinc price ratio weakened all the way. Against this backdrop, the long-dormant export window for Chinese zinc ingots reappeared, and discussions in the market about reverse arbitrage involving "buying SHFE zinc, selling LME zinc" noticeably heated up...

Glencore reported own-sourced zinc production of 365,600 tonnes for H1 2026, down 99,600 tonnes, or 21%, year on year. The decline mainly reflected the end of mine life at Australia’s Lady Loretta mine in late 2025, which accounted for about 51,000 tonnes, lower zinc grades at Peru’s Antamina mine under its higher-copper and lower-zinc grade sequencing, which accounted for about 39,200 tonnes, and the sale of Canada’s Kidd mine on June 1. Glencore maintained its 2026 zinc production guidance at 700,000–740,000 tonnes, despite the Kidd sale removing around 11,000 tonnes of zinc output for the remainder of the year. The company said this implies a like-for-like upgrade to the guidance midpoint after excluding the disposal. Q2 zinc output was higher than in Q1, although no quarterly absolute figure or mine-level increase was provided.