This month we’re looking at the impact on the concentrates balance of the measures imposed by governments around the world to try to counteract the spread of Covid-19. Many countries are now in a lockdown situation or engaging in social distancing, including some of the top zinc and lead mining countries. Moreover, the sharp drop in zinc and lead prices, as well as that for by-product silver, have pushed a number of mines into loss making territory, and already we have seen some smaller operations put on care and maintenance. With the outlook for lower prices to persist, more closures are likely. In contrast, most smelters continue to maintain their planned production levels, and the overall impact on the zinc and lead concentrates balances will be to reduce the expected surpluses for 2020. In this analysis we quantify the losses from the announcements to date, focussing on ex-China.
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