SMM, September 30: As the National Day holiday approaches, enterprises across the lead industry chain are making holiday arrangements. SMM randomly surveyed the holiday schedules of 16 primary lead smelters across seven provinces, with enterprise scales (monthly lead ingot production) ranging from several thousand mt to over 10,000 mt and tens of thousands of mt. The National Day arrangements of these major enterprises are as follows:
It is understood that mainstream primary lead smelters in China did not arrange full-plant shutdowns for the National Day holiday. Lead smelting systems maintained continuous operation, with rotating shifts adopted to ensure stable production. Primary lead smelters in Henan, Inner Mongolia, Yunnan and other regions that had been under maintenance earlier completed equipment maintenance work and have gradually resumed production, which is expected to bring growth in primary lead supply in October.
Primary lead smelting is a high-temperature continuous production industry. Once core processes such as smelting furnaces, electrolysis and acid production are started, it is not advisable to shut down furnaces for holidays at will. Shutdown and resumption costs are high, and there are significant safety risks. Under industry practice, production generally does not stop during long holidays. During this National Day holiday, large primary lead smelters in China all formulated holiday production safeguard plans, implemented 24-hour three-shift duty systems, strengthened on-site safety inspections, environmental protection operations and raw material supply guarantees, ensured stable output of main and by-products such as lead ingot and sulphuric acid, and also made proper logistical arrangements for on-duty personnel to uphold the bottom line of safe production.
From a regional perspective, some primary lead enterprises in China arranged equipment maintenance according to annual plans from August to September. Maintenance work at multiple primary lead smelters in Henan, Inner Mongolia, Yunnan and other regions wrapped up in mid-to-late September. Relevant production lines have gradually started feeding materials and resumed production, with capacity being steadily released. As this portion of maintenance-affected capacity returns, the overall operating rate of primary lead in China will rise.
From a market perspective, downstream lead-acid battery enterprises have largely wrapped up pre-holiday stockpiling. Spot transactions are likely to turn sluggish during the long holiday, and finished product inventory pressure at smelters will become a key market focus after the holiday. It is understood that multiple smelters have already pre-sold October cargoes in advance, with most enterprises having pre-sold through the National Day holiday and a few through mid-October or even mid-to-late October. Smelter inventory buildup pressure after this National Day holiday is expected to be lower YoY.
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