Bears Reduced Positions, Lead Prices Closed Higher on Both Markets Last Friday [SMM Lead Morning Brief]

SMM May 15:

Last Friday, LME lead opened at $2,005/mt and moved sideways during the Asian session. Entering the European session, it first dipped then rose, with bears reducing positions after probing a low of $1,995/mt. LME lead touched a high of $2,015/mt in late trading and finally closed at $2,013/mt, up 0.4%.

Last Friday evening, the most-traded SHFE lead 2607 contract opened at 16,735 yuan/mt, briefly touched a high of 16,780 yuan/mt at the start of the session before moving sideways, and finally closed at 16,775 yuan/mt, up 0.24%.

The decline in lead futures prices brought some downstream buy-the-dip stocking demand. Combined with reduced lead imports, this contributed to lead ingot destocking and supported lead prices to rebound after probing lows. Meanwhile, secondary lead enterprises successively resumed production, and secondary refined lead transaction prices shifted to a discount (against the SMM #1 lead average price). The incremental supply put pressure on the sustainability of subsequent lead ingot destocking, limiting upside room for lead prices.

Data source disclaimer: Data other than public information is derived from public information, market communication, and SMM's internal database models, processed by SMM for reference only and does not constitute decision-making advice.