Energy crisis triggers supply chain concerns; base metal price rises
Time:Wed, 24 Aug 2022 07:32:13 +0800
keywords :
Due to the energy crisis in Europe and China, triggering the supply chain’s worries, many base metal prices climbed on Tuesday. However, the gains were restricted by the weakness of the global economy and the hike in interest rates.
Recently, in order to ensure residential power supply during a heat wave, China applied power rationing to industrial users in some regions.
According to CRU Group, in China, a 500,000 tons zinc annual capacity has been shut down due to power rationing.
At the same time, European smelters are struggling with unreasonable energy costs. According to Belgian smelter Nyrstar, it would put its Budel smelting operation in the Netherlands on maintenance from September 1st. The company has already shut down the capacity of its three European zinc smelters by 50%.
However, according to zinc and lead traders, the short-term optimism driven by China’s power curbs will fade when the weather cools down.
