Social Inventory of Lead Ingots Increases as Expected Approaching Delivery of SHFE 2304 Lead Contract

SHANGHAI, Apr 14 (SMM) - According to SMM research, according to SMM research, as of April 14, the total social inventory of SMM lead ingots across Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Tianjin reached 40,500 mt, up 7,000 mt from last Friday (April 7) and up 7,000 mt from this Monday (April 10).
According to research, the supply of lead ingots in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai has been further tightened. Approaching the delivery of SHFE 2304 lead contract, the deliverable goods will be transferred to the SHFE warehouses. As such, the inventory of lead ingot social inventory increased as expected while the supply in the spot market decreased. In this scenario, cargo holders mainly sold at premiums. As of April 14, the prices of small orders in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai were in premiums of 0-50 yuan/mt against the SHFE 2305 lead contract. Next week, due to the continuous maintenance of lead smelters, the regional supply of lead ingots will be tightened further. But the lead consumption will be weak as well. Given the delivery of SHFE 2304 lead contract, it is expected that the social inventory of lead ingots will rise before falling.