A World Surrounded in Zinc

Zinc isn’t just found in your daily vitamin – it surrounds us all: protecting our infrastructure, maintaining human health and growth, and helping crops grow faster and stronger. Without zinc, there would be no life.

Zinc Uses

More than 13 million tons of zinc was produced in 2013 worldwide. Sixty percent of this is used for galvanizing to protect steel from corrosion thus prolonging the service life of steel products significantly. Approximately 15% goes into the production of zinc base alloys, mainly to supply the die casting industry, 14% goes into the production of brass and bronze and 8% into the production of compounds including zinc oxide and zinc sulfate. The remainder is zinc alloys, mainly rolled, utilized in semi-manufactured applications including coinage and architectural applications..

These first-use suppliers then convert zinc into in a broad range of products. By far the largest application area is construction with 45% of all first-use zinc products used in this area. The transportation sector consumes 25% of global zinc consumption and consumer goods – including electrical and electronic appliances – accounts for 23%. The remaining 7% is used for the manufacture of industrial machinery.