December 29th, 2025 | 07:35 CET
Rally in sight – Zinc is the secret beneficiary of the steel boom and electric vehicles! Recognize the potential in Pasinex Resources, BYD, and Salzgitter!
The year 2025 was marked by sharply rising prices for raw materials. These included precious metals, especially silver, critical raw materials, but also industrial metals such as copper. The bottom line is that this year's rally passed zinc by. Starting at high prices in January, the price of the volatile industrial metal fell by around 10% over the course of the year. Zinc is used in a wide range of industrial and technological applications: as corrosion protection for steel, in alloys, and as electrode material for certain types of batteries. As the long-term growth drivers remain intact, investing in zinc offers good opportunities. Companies such as Pasinex Resources, which have high-grade deposits and can therefore achieve well above-average margins, are to be favored.
time to read: 3 minutes
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Author:
Carsten Mainitz
ISIN:
PASINEX RESOURCES LTD. | CA70260R1082 , BYD CO. LTD H YC 1 | CNE100000296 , SALZGITTER AG O.N. | DE0006202005
Table of contents:
Author
Carsten Mainitz
The native Rhineland-Palatinate has been a passionate market participant for more than 25 years. After studying business administration in Mannheim, he worked as a journalist, in equity sales and many years in equity research.
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Pasinex Resources – Decisive milestone achieved through share increase
Pasinex Resources is focusing on the further development of its zinc projects, primarily in Turkey. Turkey has significant deposits of this industrial metal and is one of Europe's most important raw material countries in this sector. Two key strategic elements distinguish the Canadian explorer from its competitors. First, Pasinex sells the raw material directly to zinc smelters and refineries, enabling it to achieve significantly higher margins. Second, Pasinex acquires companies and advanced projects, allowing it to leverage synergies.
The Company recently increased its stake in its flagship Pinargözü mine to 100%. The responsible Turkish regulatory authority, MAPEG, gave the green light for this. This step is truly a decisive milestone for the Canadians. The Company is now set to significantly increase the mine's potential with development work on the 1,000-meter-long tunnel, which is scheduled to start in January. The aim is to develop high-grade zones at depth. The Company expects this to increase the mine's lifespan.
Pasinex also owns the Sarikaya lead-zinc project. Both properties, Pinargözü and Sarikaya, have near-surface mineralization, which significantly reduces capital requirements and development time. In addition, the Company holds 51% of the Gunman project, a high-grade zinc exploration project in the US state of Nevada.
In particular, the further development of the flagship Pinargözü project, but also progress on the Sarikaya project, should prove to be positive drivers for the share price. The share has already multiplied over the past 12 months, buoyed by positive news flow. Despite the rally, the market capitalization is currently only a modest CAD 17 million.
BYD – Strong business with battery storage systems
Almost 10 million vehicles were sold in the EU up to and including November. The most popular type of drive was the hybrid. More than one in three new vehicles has this type of combined drive. The share of electric vehicles rose to 17%. However, there were differing trends. While Tesla sales slumped significantly by 40% to 130,000 units, BYD remained stable with 110,000 units. Due to strong domestic competition, BYD has placed its strategic growth focus on opportunities in international markets.
In the past year, many Chinese suppliers, including BYD, recorded a sharp rise in demand for battery storage systems. This demand often arises in connection with electricity generation from renewable energy. Analysts see a dynamic continuation of this trend in the coming year and are bullish for industry representatives.
Salzgitter – 150% increase in share price over the past year
Salzgitter is one of Europe's leading steel and technology companies. Its business activities focus on the manufacture and processing of rolled steel and tube products and the trading of these products. The group is also active in the fields of special-purpose machinery and plant engineering. Its nearly 30% stake in European copper producer Aurubis is also significant.
At the beginning of the year, the shares were trading at around EUR 15. In the meantime, the price has jumped significantly to EUR 40, putting the stock in second place on the performance list of the SDAX small-cap index. At around EUR 2.4 billion, the Company's valuation is still moderate. The stake in Aurubis alone is worth EUR 1.6 billion, and the trend is upward.
At first glance, the stock's strong performance is surprising given the challenging conditions in the steel sector. This is illustrated by the difficult situation of the joint steel company (including Thyssenkrupp), HKM. However, other factors gave the share a boost.
A key trigger for the rising prices was the approval in the summer of the new "Secure 500" steel for military use, for example, in armored vehicles. This sparked the imagination of stock market traders. In addition, many market experts expect EU protectionism to have a positive effect on the steel industry next year. UBS sees Salzgitter as a major beneficiary of rising prices. The Swiss bank recently raised its target price for the share to EUR 40.
EU protectionism and rising demand should also cause Salzgitter's share price to rise in the new year. BYD is growing internationally in the field of e-mobility and even more strongly with battery storage. Pasinex is well-positioned to continue last year's spectacular share price performance in the coming months, thanks to its increased shareholding and the further development of its flagship zinc project.
Conflict of interest
Pursuant to §85 of the German Securities Trading Act (WpHG), we point out that Apaton Finance GmbH as well as partners, authors or employees of Apaton Finance GmbH (hereinafter referred to as "Relevant Persons") may hold shares or other financial instruments of the aforementioned companies in the future or may bet on rising or falling prices and thus a conflict of interest may arise in the future. The Relevant Persons reserve the right to buy or sell shares or other financial instruments of the Company at any time (hereinafter each a "Transaction"). Transactions may, under certain circumstances, influence the respective price of the shares or other financial instruments of the Company.
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