Zinc producers increase capacity

Advanced Battery Technology, Jul 2002

According to the recently released Roskill report, The Economics of Zinc, the zinc industry has experienced significant expansion in recent years, with new projects increasing total world capacity for both mine and zinc metal production. Significant capacity increases have included the opening of Sun Metals' Townsville smelter/refinery in Queensland, Australia, and Anglo American's Lisheen mine in County Clare, Ireland. In 1999, Pasminco commissioned the 0.52Mtpy Century mine in Australia, which when it reaches design capacity, will rank with Red Dog in the-U.S. as one of the two largest zinc mines in the world.

Demand for zinc in brass and bronze increased by an annual average of almost 5% between 1993 and 1998, ensuring a secure and growing market for zinc. However, the galvanizing of steel is the principal application, accounting for approximately 44% of world zinc demand. The relatively widespread increase in demand for galvanized steel fueled growth in the zinc industry. World consumption of refined zinc metal increased by 7% in 1999 to 8.4Mt, and to about 8.7Mt in 2000, representing a 31 % increase over consumption in 1993.

Demand for galvanized steel, despite some slowdown in the automotive sector, will continue to stimulate growth in the zinc industry. The U.S. and China are expected to be the major growth areas, and demand for zinc is expected to grow by an average of 3.4% per year to more than 1OMt by 2005, based on 1998 consumption.