Secondary lead smelters operating rates recovered to 17.9%

SHANGHAI, Mar 6 (SMM) – Operating rates across licensed smelters of secondary lead in Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan and Guizhou rose 6.5 percentage points from the prior week to 17.9% in the week ended March 6, showed a SMM survey.

The operating rate in Henan recovered from zero to 18%, as Yuguang resumed its scrap dismantling line which could process about 300 mt of battery scrap per day.

Guizhou saw its operating rate across secondary lead smelters increasing 15 percentage points to 26%, as Sanhe recovered to a daily output of over 100 mt and Yongxin extended production time. Huoqilin’s production lines were still undertaking maintenance. 

The operating rates in Jiangsu and Anhui remained unchanged this week, at 33.3% and 0%, respectively.

Tightness in battery scrap supply slightly eased this week, as trades of the raw material for secondary lead production picked up in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong and Jiangxi. But battery scrap supply remained tight in northern regions such as Tianjin and Hebei.