Zinc demand in India likely to double in next 5-10 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.

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 galvanized coatings. We see a lot of plans and investments going on for new galvanizing 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 four kg per capita. And in developed countries like Korea, Europe, US it can go up to six or seven kgs 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.

"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.