SHANGHAI, Jan 22 (SMM) – Social inventories of lead ingots across Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Tianjin dropped 11,100 mt from the prior week and declined 10,400 mt from Monday to 45,400 mt as of Friday January 22, an SMM survey showed.

As the logistics are impeded under the pandemic and Chinese new year, and some large lead-acid battery companies plan to produce in shifts during CNY, the downstream companies have been restocking lead ingots for two weeks. Some secondary lead refineries in Jiangxi and Hebei have been on holiday since January 20, so the social destocking has been accelerated amid tightened supply.

Considering that most downstream companies have completed preliminary restocking, and the battery companies will gradually suspend production for holidays, the social inventories of lead ingots are expected to decline slightly next week amid slower downstream restocking.