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    December 20, 2019

    CRU: North American Zinc Demand Expected to Remain Flat in 2020

    Written by Sam Grant

    By CRU Analyst Sam Grant, from CRU’s Zinc Monitor

    The North American market (U.S., Canada and Mexico) accounts for approximately 9.6 percent of global refined zinc demand. This year, we have seen a sharp slowdown in both global trade and industrial production, with the North American region experiencing its slowest rate of IP growth since 2016. On a country-by-country basis, Mexico has seen the greatest degree of economic and industrial weakness in 2019, with the U.S. and Canada continuing to see modest rates of growth. Despite domestic frictions impacting North American trade of steel and other metals due to Section 232 and retaliatory tariffs in the opening few months of this year, we estimate that refined demand has remained broadly stable, declining just 0.2 percent y/y in 2019. The weakest North American end-use demand sector throughout 2019 has been automotive, while construction-related activity has remained supportive.

    Sam Grant

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