LME lead had wild swings and closed lower, SHFE lead opened lower and trended down under pressure [SMM Lead Morning Meeting Summary]

Published: Jun 29, 2026 09:23

Futures:

Last Friday, the LME lead 3M contract opened at $1,913/mt. Prices continued to decline during Asian trading hours, then moved sideways in a narrow range of $1,903.5-1,906/mt. Entering European and US sessions, inflows drove a rebound in futures. The price climbed to an intraday high of $1,916.5/mt, but heavy selling pressure above and insufficient bullish momentum led to a downward reversal after the spike, hitting a low of $1,901/mt. It finally settled at $1,901.5/mt, down $11 or 0.58%.

Last Friday night, the most-traded SHFE lead 2608 contract opened lower with a gap at 16,220 yuan/mt. It drifted lower in early trading, gradually breaking below the daily moving average support to a low of 16,135 yuan/mt. After a brief sideways consolidation in the mid-to-late session, it recovered some losses, finally settling at 16,170 yuan/mt, forming a small bearish candlestick, down 85 yuan/mt or 0.52%.

On the macro front:

US media reported that the US and Iran agreed to halt mutual attacks and will meet in Qatar this Tuesday. Putin stated that Russia proposes both sides stop strikes on each other's deep territory targets. Fed Chairman Vause appointed two senior central bank economists as advisors. Nasdaq Exchange: SpaceX will join the Nasdaq 100 Index on July 7, 2026. Total investment in key energy projects and new business models under the 15th Five-Year Plan will exceed 200 trillion yuan. National Energy Administration: Future western regions need to export products and Tokens outwards. TFC Communication: The tight supply contradiction for individual materials will gradually ease starting in H2. "National subsidies" continue! The third batch of 62.5 billion yuan in funds has been allocated.

Spot Fundamentals:

SHFE lead stopped falling and saw a relative rebound, while market circulation in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai was limited with few quotations. Elsewhere, EXW supply from primary lead smelters was ample. In southern China, shipments were still at discounts, with mainstream production area quotations at premiums of -80 to 0 yuan/mt against the SMM #1 lead average price. Some premiums of 100 yuan/mt still existed in certain regions. In the secondary lead market, smelters' sentiment to hold back from selling eased slightly, with secondary refined lead quotations at discounts of 25 yuan/mt to premiums of 25 yuan/mt against the SMM #1 lead average price ex-works. As month-end approached and new long-term contracts began, downstream enterprise purchases were limited. Apart from some enterprises buying on a dip for rigid demand, most maintained a wait-and-see stance, resulting in sluggish transactions in the spot market.

Inventories: On June 26, LME lead inventory decreased by 1,075 mt to 297,450 mt. On June 25, SMM lead ingot social inventory across five regions fell by 1,300 mt to 67,500 mt.

Lead Price Forecast Today:

Production cuts and shutdowns at secondary lead smelters continued to increase this week. For primary lead, multiple smelters in Henan and Yunnan that previously underwent maintenance have resumed production one after another, pushing the industry operating rate up MoM. Supply side, bullish and bearish factors are intertwined. As month-end approaches on the consumption side, large downstream enterprises have entered the mid-year account closing and centralized stocktaking phase, generally suspending raw material procurement, with some orders delayed to July for execution. Fundamentals lack strong support. On the sentiment side, close attention should be paid to the fluctuation impact on the overall nonferrous metals sector brought by the easing of US-Iran tensions. Overall, in the short term, lead prices are likely to mainly trade in the doldrums.

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM's internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

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