London 18/05/2016 - The global refined lead and zinc markets were both oversupplied in the first three months of this year, posting respective surpluses of 29,000 tonnes and 42,000 tonnes, the International Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG) said.
First-quarter lead production was 2.54 million tonnes against demand of 2.511 million tonnes, it said in its latest release on Wednesday. This compared with supply and demand of 2.59 million tonnes and 2.58 million tonnes respectively in the same 2015 period.
"A fall in global refined lead metal usage of 2.6 percent was principally influenced by a fall in Chinese apparent demand of 13.3 percent," the ILZSG said.
In zinc, first-quarter production was 3.235 million tonnes against consumption of 3.193 million tonnes. In the first quarter of 2015, supply and demand were 3.39 million tonnes and 3.25 million tonnes respectively.
"Despite an increase in Chinese apparent usage of refined zinc metal of 4.5 percent, global demand fell by 1.8 percent. This was mainly a consequence of reductions in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and the US," the ILZSG said.
(Editing by Mark Shaw)