The worlds zinc mining and smelting industry will continue to become more concentrated and more integrated in the 1990s Dr Klaus Goekmann vice-president of marketing and sales for Cominco Ltd said. Opening a Metal Bulletin base metals conference here Goekmann forecast the number of individual businesses in the industry would continue to decline as companies merged or formed conglomerates with increased market shares. At the same time the conglomerates would become more integrated handling the entire chain from basic ore production through marketing he added. The key to future viability will be flexibility. Prices are likely to remain at current historically low levels at least in the medium term and competition with other metals and materials will continue to intensify Goekmann said. In the past we have only reacted to changes in the worlds market and economics. In the future we have to act less defensively and more aggressively. The industry also has massive overcapacity and this problem has to be tackled quickly he added. Attempts in the past to cut out this excess capacity in Europe have all failed miserably. However there is some hope that current efforts may be successful Goekmann said. At the same time companies must move to limit their geographical and currency risks and become far more marketing orientated he added. With all these changes and rationalization the industry can survive to recover its past strength and profitability. Without them the future does not look very rosy Goekmann said.
CONCENTRATION OF ZINC INDUSTRY SEEN CONTINUING