According to SMM, both supply and demand in the lead concentrate market declined in February. Smelters in Hunan and Yunnan suspended raw material procurement offers due to maintenance shutdowns during the Chinese New Year holiday. Some producers adopted a cautious purchasing approach towards silver in silver-bearing lead ores, fearing a price decline. The short-term unilateral bullish sentiment for silver has significantly faded. The payable indicator for silver contained in lead concentrates remained stable in the near term. Should silver prices enter a downward trend, smelters may consider negotiating a lower coefficient. Although extreme offers, where smelters actively reduce TCs to "snap up" silver-bearing lead concentrate raw materials, have almost disappeared after the holiday, a few small-scale, low-silver lead mines slightly increased lead concentrate TCs to hedge against silver price downside risks. However, smelters generally indicated that it remains difficult to raise mainstream lead concentrate TC offers in March.
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