This week (September 7, 2026 - September 11, 2026), the SMM #1 lead weekly average price was 16,015 yuan/mt, down 40 yuan/mt WoW. Recently, primary lead market circulating cargoes were limited, with some enterprises seeing inventory declines and pre-sales, and suppliers mostly held prices firm on sales. Prices in north China were higher than in south China, with mainstream production-area primary lead smelters quoting EXW cargoes at premiums of 0-50 yuan/mt against the SMM #1 lead average price. Notably, the spread between futures and spot prices narrowed significantly WoW. Taking Henan as an example, it narrowed from a discount of 120 yuan/mt against the SHFE lead 2610 contract last week to around a discount of 50 yuan/mt. In secondary lead, as smelter production resumptions progressed slower than expectations, regional supply differences in the refined lead market widened, and secondary refined lead quotations also showed a wide discount range. Mainstream production-area quotations against the SMM #1 lead average price ranged from a discount of 175 yuan/mt to a premium of 25 yuan/mt EXW, with some downstream buyers preferring deeply discounted cargoes, while high-priced cargoes saw difficult transactions.
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