Zinc and lead prices unlikely to drop in H2 2020

Asian Metal: Mr. Li, thank you for accepting our interview. Firstly, please give a brief introduction of your company.

Mr. Li: Founded in 2007, Chenzhou Fengyue Science and Technology Co., Ltd. is a high-tech enterprise specializing in the harmless treatment and resource utilization of non-ferrous hazardous wastes, and now is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shanghai Dingli Science and Technology Development (Group) Co., Ltd. Relying on the production bases of Jiangbei Industrial Park and Ziwu Industrial Park, it comprehensively recycles rare and precious metals such as indium, silver, copper, tin, lead, zinc, bismuth, cadmium, gallium, germanium and gold. With an annual processing capacity of 300,000t for solid nonferrous waste, it owns annual output value of 2 billion yuan (USD0.28 billion).

Asian Metal: Would you please give an introduction on your production?

Mr. Li: We have been keeping stable production since May 2019 after maintenance, and produce 45,000tpy of lead ingot and 12,000tpy of zinc ingot. Mainly recycling rare and precious metals, we control our annual lead ingot output at about 45,000t, and lead ingot and zinc ingot capacity can be lifted to 80,000tpy and 15,000tpy respectively if needed.

Asian Metal: Your company mainly uses raw materials of waste slag and scrap, so please introduce to us the current raw materials market situation.

Mr. Li: The raw materials of our company are mainly low-grade polymetallic wastes. The upstream suppliers are mainly large state-owned enterprises and listed companies, so the raw materials are relatively stable and sufficient.

Asian Metal: How do you view the current lead and zinc market situation?

Mr. Li: In my opinion, the lead market is relatively weak and the supply would exceed demand in the long run. The vigorous development of secondary lead, the substitutability of lead-acid batteries, the impact of lead industry chain on the environment and the global economic recession will restrict the rise of lead price. However, the global central banks' economy rescue measures will undoubtedly push up the prices of various assets, so I think lead prices tend to rise but in a limited space compared with other non-ferrous metals.

I'm relatively optimistic about the zinc market. Due to the recent economic downturn, the price rise may not be very large in the near future, but in the long run, zinc price is likely to remain high once the economy stabilizes.

Asian Metal: What do you think of the consumption and price trend of lead ingot in the second half of 2020?

Mr. Li: In the second half of 2020, the consumption of lead ingot should be weak due to the economic recession, so the price would face resistance to rise. However, lead prices are hard to fall supported by global central banks' economy stimulation measures.

Asian Metal: And what do you think of the consumption and price trend of zinc ingot in the second half of 2020?

Mr. Li: I think that the situation of zinc ingot is similar to that of lead, but the price should stably increase as consumption of zinc ingot will be better than that of lead ingot.

Asian Metal: At present, environmental inspections have a great impact on nonferrous metal smelting industry. What does your company invest in environmental protection? What is the impact of environmental inspections on the company's production and operation?

Mr. Li: Our company invested a lot in environmental protection from 2017 to 2019 to upgrade the relevant environmental protection facilities according to new standards. The investment in the early stage ensures that we meet the current discharge standards, so the environmental inspections have no impact on our production and operation.

Asian Metal: Thanks for your interview again. Wish your company a better future.

Mr. Li: Thanks.