World of Metallurgy ERZMETALL 68 2015 No 3 167 Frank E Goodwin The Zinc Industry New Developments America Japan and Korea the most significant change to the sheet galvanizing market is the much higher quantities used for protections of automobiles from corrosion In North America Japan and Korea over half of all galvanized sheet production is destined for the automotive market whereas in other countries the construction industry con sumes a larger share The general galvanizing industry finds the largest uses for its products in electricity transmission distribution and other equipment together with infrastruc ture applications such as highway furniture and other pub lic structures such as parking garages The die casting mar ket is closely tied to the construction market with much of its tonnage used for builders hardware but also a very diverse range of uses including automotive industrial and toys production The various alloys of brass include up to 30 of zinc in their composition and finds applications in locks ammunition casings and valves together with plumb ing and electrical applications and musical instruments The largest use of zinc oxide is in the rubber industry where it assists with acceleration of vulcanization followed by stabilization of the rubber compounds used in tires it also finds use in medicinal and sunscreen applications 3 1 China The use of zinc in galvanized steel in China increased rapid ly between 2005 and 2014 as shown in Figure 5 This was a period in which total zinc consumption in China increased from 3 04 to 6 42 million metric tons Of the 3 27 million metric tons used for galvanizing in 2014 1 71 million tons were used for galvanization of sheet This market is grow ing very rapidly the number of continuous sheet galvaniz ing production lines in China in 2013 reached 533 more than the rest of the world combined The average annual increase of galvanized sheet capacity in China was 22 3 between 2005 and 2013 General galvanizing also increased significantly during this time with significant quantities of general galvanized articles used in construction of the high speed railway network and expanding the electricity transmission and distribution networks Zinc consumption for zinc die casting and brass were at more moderate rates of 2 2 and 3 6 respectively Use of zinc oxide increased by 5 6 reflecting its demand for its use in automobile tires and support of the rapidly growing automobile in dustry The use of zinc in dry cell batteries decreased 4 8 between 2005 and 2014 accounting for only 200 000 tons in 2015 One reason for the rapid growth of the continuous galvanized sheet market is a 13 tax rebate for galvanized sheet exported from China In 2014 exported galvanized sheet totaled 7 2 million tons a 28 6 increase over 2013 The forecast for zinc demand growth in China is shown in Table 5 It can be seen that the growth rates shown here are much more moderate than those in the past A moderation of steel production is assumed together with much more efficient use of zinc on galvanizing products Technological improvements necessitated by competition are expected to moderate future growth rates for zinc oxide Very limited growth prospects are seen for dry cell batteries The growth rate of zinc consumption can be compared with China s gross domestic product GDP growth rate in Table 6 The right hand column shows the ratio of the growth rate of zinc consumption to GDP growth rate For numbers larger Fig 4 Global first uses of zinc in 2014 total consumption 12 976 000 metric tons Source International Zinc Assn International Lead Zinc Study Group Fig 5 Chinese first uses of zinc in 2005 interior ring and 2014 exterior ring together with percentage of use each year 5 total Chinese zinc consumption was 3 04 million tons in 2005 and 6 421 million tons in 2014 42 0 5 3 10 7 12 1 28 6 1 3 镀锌 51 0 电池 3 2 氧化锌 9 1 铜合金 13 8 压铸锌合金 22 2 其他 0 6 2014 2005 Other Diecasting Zinc Oxide Batteries Galvanizing Brass Table 5 China zinc consumption forecast by first use 5 Year 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Average an nual growth rate Total Zn consump tion estimated kt 6250 6550 6840 7150 7490 4 6 Galvanizing kt 3190 3390 3600 3810 4000 1 8 Die casting kt 1390 1410 1430 1450 1490 2 2 Zn in brass kt 860 890 910 920 940 4 9 Zinc oxide kt 570 590 630 660 690 0 6 Zn in batteries kt 200 190 180 185 205 0 4 Other uses kt 40 80 90 125 165 1 8

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