The zinc industry in the United States is likely to remain fairly balanced in 2018, with continued strong demand for material offsetting new production coming online.
Barring any major developments or setbacks, market participants expect spot market premiums, assessed at 8-9 cents per lb in mid-December, to remain in a similar range next year, according to market participants.Although mill and furnace restarts and ramp-ups - notably from Glencore and Noranda Income Fund (NIF) - could affect supply in 2018, those ramp-ups aren't expected to have a meaningful impact."You have a little more supply coming on but good demand will continue," one trader told American Metal Market. "The market is pretty much situated," one producer said. "Maybe we're seeing some early signs of flattening [demand] but we're not seeing a big drop off yet. So 2018 looks fairly strong for demand." Glencore said in mid-December that it will add 100,000 tonnes of zinc to the 2018 market when it restarts its mothballed Lady Loretta mine in the first half of next...