LME Outperforms SHFE as SHFE Lead Posts Four-Day Losing Streak Overnight [SMM Lead Morning Brief]

SMM May 12:

Overnight, LME lead opened at $1,977/mt, briefly touched a low of $1,970.5/mt during the Asian session before fluctuating upward; after entering the European session, the rally remained firm, touching a high of $1,990/mt near the close, and finally settled at $1,988.5/mt, up 0.56%.

Overnight, the most-traded SHFE lead 2606 contract opened at 16,695 yuan/mt, briefly touched a high of 16,710 yuan/mt at the start of the session, then fluctuated downward to probe a low of 16,590 yuan/mt, recovered slightly near the close, and finally settled at 16,655 yuan/mt, down 0.12%, marking a four-day losing streak.

This week, the SHFE lead 2605 contract entered the delivery period. Suppliers increasingly shipped to delivery warehouses, and lead ingots were transferred from factory warehouses to social warehouses. The continued accumulation of visible inventory of lead ingots will keep weighing on lead prices. Meanwhile, the concentrated production cuts and shutdowns among secondary lead enterprises became the main driver of supply reduction this month. Combined with the closure of the import window and losses in secondary lead production providing price support, after the delivery-related factors are resolved, lead prices will need to await new influencing factors to emerge.

Data source disclaimer: Data other than publicly available 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.