Zinc: Correlation
Prices it moves with, and why
Zinc is mined with lead and silver and traded on the LME and in Shanghai. Most goes into galvanising steel, so construction and car output drive demand, while smelter treatment charges and energy costs shape refined supply.
Market price World Bank Pink Sheet: Zinc $/mt · monthly, Jan 2006 to Sep 2026What its price moves with
Selected linkZinc and Lead
Monthly changes 0.59 moderate correlation 12-month changes 0.59 moderate correlation Last 5 years 0.60 monthly changes Lead or lag none No clear lead or lag Price function, Jan 2006 to Sep 2026 Zinc ≈ 107.1 × (Lead)0.41 R² 0.09 On this fit, a 10% higher lead price goes with a 4.0% higher zinc price over the long run. Units: $/mt and $/mt. The fit is loose, so treat the function as a rough guide.Chart: Zinc and Lead prices rebased to 100 at Jan 2006, log scale
Both prices rebased to 100 at Jan 2006, on a log scale so equal percentage moves look the same size.Chart: Zinc price against Lead price, monthly, log scales, with fitted line
Each dot is one month; paler dots are older (2006), darker dots recent (2026); the ringed dot is the latest month. The dashed line is the fitted price function. Both axes are logarithmic.Zinc and lead occur together in the same ores, so mine output of one brings the other, and both trade on the LME. Monthly moves correlate at 0.59 and yearly at 0.59, though their demand differs: steel for zinc, batteries for lead.
moderate co-movement month to month · 249 months Show chartsCopper and zinc share mines, exchanges and industrial demand, and both are bought by the same funds as bets on growth. Monthly changes correlate at 0.73, zinc's strongest link here, and yearly changes also at 0.73.
strong co-movement month to month · 249 months Show chartsGalvanising, coating steel with zinc against rust, is zinc's largest use, so steel output in China drives demand. The US steel index hardly moves with zinc monthly (0.00), because US steel prices respond to tariffs and local supply rather than to global zinc.
little or none co-movement month to month · 249 months Show chartsRoasting zinc sulphide concentrate gives off sulphur dioxide, which smelters turn into sulphuric acid and sell. Acid credits help smelter margins but do not move zinc prices; the monthly correlation with the US acid index is near zero (0.04).
little or none co-movement month to month · 225 months Show chartsZinc is refined by electrolysis, which uses a lot of power, and European smelters cut output when electricity soared in 2022. The proxy is a US industrial power index, so monthly moves correlate at -0.09, reflecting fixed contracts and regional power markets.
little or none co-movement month to month · 249 months Show chartsIndium, used in touchscreens and solar cells, is recovered mainly from zinc refining residues, so its supply depends on zinc smelting rather than on its own price. Indium has no public price series here, so the link is text only.
Not enough overlapping price history to measure.How to read these numbers
Correlation of monthly changes (the number in the coloured pill) compares how much each price moved, month by month, since 2006 or the first month both series exist. It runs from −1 to +1: near +1 the two usually rise and fall in the same months, near 0 there is no link, and a negative number means they tend to move in opposite directions. Above 0.7 is strong, 0.4 to 0.7 moderate, 0.2 to 0.4 weak.
12-month changes compare year-on-year moves, which shows whether two prices share the same cycles even when the month-to-month noise differs.
Price function is a straight-line fit of the two prices on logarithmic scales: price ≈ k × (partner price)β. β is how much this price moves, in per cent, for a 1% move in the partner over the whole period, and R² is the share of the variation the fit explains. Two prices that both drift up with inflation can fit well without any real link, so read it together with the monthly correlation.
Lead or lag checks whether the monthly correlation is clearly higher when one price is shifted by 1 to 6 months.
Correlation is not cause. The reasons on each card explain the economic link; the numbers show how strongly it has shown up in prices. Proxy series are US producer price indexes or related prices and can blur the real link.
Data: World Bank Commodity Price Data (Pink Sheet), October 2026; US Bureau of Labor Statistics producer price indexes, IMF primary commodity prices and US EIA prices via FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, retrieved November 2026. Calculations by this site.