CRU: Auto-Related Zinc Demand Stuck in the Slow Lane

By CRU Senior Analyst Helen O’Cleary, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor

The automotive industry accounts for approximately 10% of end-use sector zinc demand, in the form of galvanized steel sheet, die castings and oxide. Even before the pandemic, vehicle output and sales in some of the major producing countries were being constrained by new emissions regulations so the industry was already struggling when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. The auto sector was an early victim of Covid-19-related disruption and many automakers were forced to idle production lines due to a breakdown in the supply chain as China went into lockdown in 2020 Q1. This was followed by lockdowns and labor shortages across the globe as the pandemic spread. In this Insight we are looking at the pace of the recovery in the auto and what this means for zinc demand.