The US zinc carbonate market saw a marked decline in demand in November 2025, as weak consumption in the paints and coatings industry coupled with cautious purchasing ahead of year-end inventory reductions brought about softer spot demand. According to reports, several suppliers slashed offers in a move to shift stock, while there was no formal benchmark price issued. Improved upstream logistics, as container shipment rates to the US coasts declined and port congestion lessened. Pent-up construction and remodelling activity continues to lull, dampening the need for coatings and related zinc-based speckling products. Global Zinc Carbonate consumption is expected to grow moderately for the next years, with the near-term forecast for US Zinc Carbonate being 'stable to slightly bearish'.
Key Highlights
In November 2025, the US market sources reported a general softening of demand for Zinc Carbonate, the majority of paints and coatings customers continuing to speak of subdued off-take and a few of end of year destocking. Several producers and traders referred to their offers as "descending" or "discounted in order to keep moving," clearly indicating the presence of a declining trend in the price of Zinc Carbonate in the spot market.
Weakening demand from the paints & coatings industry, a key end user, is the major factor driving down prices for Zinc Carbonate. Industry projections suggest the global coatings market will continue to expand but indicators in the short term for North America suggest that construction and remodelling activity have stayed slow in the latter part of 2025, limiting the demand for pigment and filler products including Zinc Carbonate.
Meanwhile, the logistics situation is slightly better than in recent months. Container and shipping prices for transpacific routes from Asia to the US, which had seen a big spike earlier this year, declined in November, as port congestion began to decline and capacity increased. The decline in container prices is facilitating the flow of raw materials and imports, which in turn helps mitigate bottlenecks on the supply side. Among other things, a few local suppliers tried to keep volumes just by mildly cutting prices.
Regional market watch said in reports that the overall demand for Zinc Carbonate covering the industrial grade applications such as paints, rubber, plastics and coatings continued to be weak, and that there was an anticipation that the market would be “stable to slightly bearish” up to the fourth quarter of 2025.
More challenges come with macroeconomic risk. "Industry watchers predict the Zinc Carbonate price decline will continue through the end of the year and maybe into 2026 unless construction activity meaningfully increases or the coatings and rubber industries firm up,". With the year-end approaching most of the buyers will be still cautious and they will not like to build up much in inventory. In the absence of any sudden market turnaround or increase in end user demand, prices of Zinc Carbonate will continue to be weak in the foreseeable future, forecasted ChemAnalyst.
