Spot Market: SMM #1 lead price showed a dip-then-rebound trend this week (Jul 13-17, 2026), with the weekly average price down 220 yuan/mt WoW.
During the week, LME lead inventories outside China surged, dragging down domestic lead prices. After the price decline, upstream and downstream enterprises performed differently. On the primary lead side, although some smelters held back from selling at low prices, most suppliers sold along with the market, with mainstream production area quotations at discounts of 25-0 yuan/mt against the SMM #1 lead price. In the second half of the week, as lead prices rebounded, quotations in some regions widened to discounts of 80-60 yuan/mt ex-works. For secondary refined lead, smelters' losses widened, and shipments declined WoW. Secondary refined lead quotations were at premiums of 0-50 yuan/mt against the SMM #1 lead average price, and after lead prices rebounded, they shifted to discounts of 50-0 yuan/mt ex-works. Facing the price decline, downstream enterprises initially showed strong risk-off sentiment, stayed on the sidelines with limited purchases, and then gradually engaged in dip-buying, leading to regional improvements in spot market transactions.
![Secondary refined lead traded at a discount ex-factory, and enterprises' losses remained hard to reverse [SMM Secondary Refined Lead Weekly Review]](https://imgqn.smm.cn/usercenter/yqTpQ20251217171721.jpeg)
![Domestic Secondary Crude Lead Transactions Follow the Market, Short-Term Inflows of Imported Crude Lead Remain Low [SMM Secondary Crude Lead Weekly Review]](https://imgqn.smm.cn/usercenter/XMxKT20251217171720.jpeg)
![Smelter production cuts limit raw material demand, limiting upside room for scrap batteries [SMM Scrap Battery Weekly Review]](https://imgqn.smm.cn/usercenter/qnyHQ20251217171721.jpeg)
