Zinc demand in India likely to double in next five to 10 years

The demand of zinc, is expected to double in India in the next five to 10 years on the back of huge investments in infrastructure sector, including steel, International Zinc Association said, on Sunday.

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The demand for zinc in India, depends largely on the growth of the steel market, as, zinc is mainly used to galvanise steel to protect it from corrosion.

"I see a doubling of the demand (for zinc) in the next five to 10 years. The market for primary, and refined zinc in India, is currently close to 800 to 1,000 tonnes (per annum), and has a great opportunity to increase with all the developments that we are witnessing in India.

We see huge investments in additional steel capacity, and ...steel, still needs to be protected by galvanised coatings. We see a lot of plans and investments going on for new galvanising lines. So I expect a strong role for zinc in India," International Zinc Association Global Director, Martin Van Leeuwen, told PTI in an interaction.

The current demand for zinc in India, is 800 to 1,000 tonnes per annum.

There are very low zinc users in India, he said, adding that per capita consumption of zinc in the country, is around 0.5 kg, and is far behind the world average.

"If you look at zinc use in India, it is around half a kg per capita. To put that in perspective, the global average is about 4 kg per capita. In developed countries like Korea, Europe, and the USA, it can go up to 6 or 7 kg per capita," he explained.

When asked about the outlook for zinc in the current calendar year, he said that, with the world switching over to green energy and strong growth in solar photovoltaics (PV), there seems a great opportunity for zinc in 2024.

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"The energy transition...is getting us to some wonderful opportunities for use of zinc. We are seeing investments in solar PV, and wind energy, and especially those two, require a lot of zinc to protect steel supports... zinc is also used to protect the towers, the wind towers for wind energy, especially those towers that are positioned at sea....We see great improvement, and a great opportunity for zinc," he explained.

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