Zinc spot treatment charges (TCs) were expected to remain at their current high levels through the rest of 2019, because additional Chinese smelting capacity will only come online next year, Nexa Resources' chief executive officer Tito Martins told investors on Thursday May 2.
But the price on the London Metal Exchange could rise in the second half of the year amid a global deficit of the metal, he added. The company has forecast that consumption will exceed production during 2019."We believe prices should be a little higher because stocks of the metal, and also of concentrates, are low right now," Martins said. "We are not expecting any surplus in the market at least until 2020."Fastmarkets last assessed the Asia-Pacific zinc spot TCs at $260-290 per tonne cif on April 26. This was down from...