Operating rates across licensed secondary lead smelters edge higher on week

SHANGHAI, Sep 6 (SMM) – Licensed smelters of secondary lead in Jiangsu, Anhui and Henan provinces operated at an average higher rate this week as Anhui Huaxin recovered and a large-scale cutback before the National Day has not been launched, showed an SMM survey.

Operating rates across smelters in the three areas averaged 57% in the week ended Friday September 6, up 0.9 percentage point from a week earlier. 

The average rate across smelters in Jiangsu was 50%, with rates in Henan standing at 69.6%, both flat from a week ago. 

Resumption of Anhui Huaxin buoyed the average rate in Anhui by 3.3 percentage points on the week, to 58.4%. The smelter produces some 100 mt/day of secondary lead currently, but production was unstable at the start of the week. 

An SMM survey found that smelters of primary and secondary lead in Jiyuan of Henan province have yet to feel the impact of local environmental curbs. Air quality in Henan and Hebei provinces should be monitored as it will determine the strictness of local output controls as the National Day parade approaches.