Weekly Brief on Lead Concentrates Market (May 18, 2026 - May 22, 2026) [SMM Lead Concentrates Weekly Review]

Published: May 22, 2026 15:44

Save

This week, smelters in some regions mentioned that lead concentrate TCs showed signs of further decline. The weekly average TC for domestic Pb50 was lowered to 250 yuan/mt Pb. Some silver-lead ores rich in copper and zinc were quoted with TCs far below market transaction prices because the contained metals were not paid or had low payable indicators. The supply of imported ore remained tight, with limited transactions. The weekly average TC for imported Pb60 was reported at -$135/dmt. Smelters continued to maintain a mainstream quotation range of -$150 to -$130/dmt. A few individual smelters could still accept quotations of -$180 to -$200/dmt for imported silver-lead ores with good content due to by-product revenue needs and other reasons. Silver prices continued to move sideways this week. Buyers and sellers had not yet reached a consensus on the silver price rebound trend. However, silver-bearing lead ores remained scarce, and the payable indicator for silver maintained a trend of being more likely to rise than fall.

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.

For any inquiries or for more information, please contact: lemonzhao@smm.cn

For more information on how to access our research reports, please contact:service.en@smm.cn

Related News

1 hour ago

Data: SHFE, DCE market movement (Jun 16)

The following table shows the ferrous and nonferrous metals movement on the SHFE and DCE on 16 Jun , 2026

1 hour ago

2 hours ago

SHFE lead 2607 closed higher during the day, with the 5-day moving average providing short-term support [Lead Futures Brief Review]

2 hours ago

3 hours ago

Central Asia Metals’ copper-zinc output beats last year

Central Asia Metals (CAML) announced that, thanks to improved operational efficiencies, its copper and zinc production for the first five months of 2026 both surpassed the same period last year. Copper output from the Kounrad operation in Kazakhstan totalled 5,141 tonnes, a near 4% increase over the last year. Meanwhile, the Sasa mine in North Macedonia produced 7,566 tonnes of zinc in concentrate, up over 2% compared to last year. In terms of pricing, the company reported significantly higher realized metal prices during the period. The average price of copper reached $13,076 per tonnes, representing a massive jump of nearly 40% over the last year, while average zinc prices rose 19% to $3,299 per tonne. In addition, historically low treatment charges for lead, which have turned negative, further boosted Sasa’s revenues. CEO Gavin Ferrar noted that the group is shaping up to deliver strong profitability and cash generation in the first half of 2026. Currently, the company is actively pushing forward with its acquisition of Australia's Cygnus Metals, announced last week, to expand its footprint into a high-grade copper-gold project in Quebec, Canada. The company remains highly confident in meeting its full-year production guidance (12,000–13,000 tonnes of copper, 18,000–20,000 tonnes of zinc concentrates, and 26,000–28,000 tonnes of lead concentrates).

3 hours ago