JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – China, the Middle East, India and other emerging markets had great potential to grow their zinc consumption in the future, International Zinc Association (IZA) executive director Stephen Wilkinson said on Thursday.

Speaking at a local industry meeting hosted by the International Zinc Association of Southern Africa, Wilkinson noted that there had been a lot of corporate consolidation in the global zinc production and smelting industry in recent years.

There had also been a huge shift towards Chinese firms taking over other zinc producers and smelters, said Wilkinson, adding that this was an important shift as concentrates would now perhaps not go to the normal customers, but would likely be used by China.

Zinc consumption by the Asian giant had also increased to 30% of global supply, while other Asian countries consumed about 19% of the world’s zinc.

In total, emerging markets now consumed about 44% of the 11-million tons a year global supply, said Wilkinson.

He added that about 50% of zinc was now being used to protect steel from rust and corrosion, leading to higher growth in the galvanising industry.

Specifically, the continuous galvanising industry had shown huge growth over the past few years, he stated.

In this regard, there was potential for China to consume an additional 300 000-t/y of zinc, said Wilkinson, adding that the IZA’s goal was to ensure that the country increased its domestic consumption.

He explained that China could use galvanised steel for any future infrastructural projects that could be built, while galvanised steel framing could also be used for housing projects in the region, where earthquakes were problematic.

Further, there were huge opportunities for using zinc in the Middle East, which Wilkinson noted was a very corrosive environment. Many future infrastructural projects in this region, too, could benefit from the use of galvanized steel.

Future sporting events, such as the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, to be held in Russia, and the 2014 FIFA World Cup, to be held in Brazil, opened up the possibilities for the use of galvanised steel in building new sporting venues or upgrading old venues.

Meanwhile, Wilkinson asserted that there were also great opportunities for the use of zinc in fertilisers, which could benefit the health of many children worldwide.

He explained that there was a correlation between regions with zinc-deficient soil and zinc deficiency in human beings who lived in those regions.

Zinc-enriched fertilizers often led to greater food crops, said Wilkinson, adding that this depended on the type of crop, the type of soil and the amount of zinc used.

Zinc is found in many foods, such as meat, poultry and fish. The IZA stated that zinc deficiency in children in developing countries was a serious problem as this caused certain diseases and sometimes led to high mortality rates among these children.

The IZA was aiming to raise $5-million in funds over three years to save 450 000 children a year who die, or become ill, owing to shortages of zinc and other vitamins.

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