Food For Thought Korea Zinc cuts refined zinc sales and output for 2017 as TCs bite [UPDATED]
Korea Zinc Co Ltd will reduce sales from its directly owned smelting operations by 7.7% (or 50,000 tonnes) this year, it said in a company filing dated February 7.
The announcement comes as margins for smelters are being squeezed and spot treatment charges for zinc concentrates have plummeted to multi-year lows. The company plans to sell 599,937 tonnes of zinc, 425,000 tonnes of lead and 2,116 tonnes of silver in 2017, down from
2016 levels of 650,000 tonnes, 428,124 tonnes and 2,424 tonnes...
With zinc prices nearing $1.30 here's a company that loses more money refining zinc than it can make digging it out of the ground! I am assuming that Korea Zinc both mines and refines--which may not be the case.
The article is from Metals Bulletin and is subscriber-only content. I would like to have read the whole thing.