Exclusive: China's secondary lead output fell to 301,600 mt in April

SHANGHAI, May 10 (SMM) — SMM data showed that China produced 301,600 mt of secondary lead in April, down 6.92% from March, and up 54.66% from a year ago. For January-April, output surged 146.87% from the same period last year.

SMM survey showed that the output of secondary lead dropped more than expectations in April. On the one hand, environmental protection inspection teams were stationed in Anhui, Jiangxi, Shanxi and other places. The dual energy consumption control policy in Inner Mongolia continued, and the impact of environmental protection control on refinery production far exceeded expectations. Refineries such as Inner Mongolia Taiding, Jiangxi Zhenyu, and Huijin were basically in a state of suspension in April. On the other hand, lead prices continued to fall since the beginning of April, while the supply of battery scrap was tight. Lead prices and the cost of secondary lead were hard to fall with continuous losses, and refineries' enthusiasm for production dropped sharply. At the same time, large-scale refineries such as Anhui Dahua and Luotuo stopped production for maintenance, resulting in a significant reduction in China secondary lead output in April. In addition, Tianjin Toho's newly-expanded capacities were put into production, and Zhejiang Tianneng resumed to increase production from maintenance. Secondary lead refineries resumed slowly due to the release of newly expanded production capacity and the pandemic at the beginning of 2020. The production base is small, leading to a significant year-on-year increase in the output of secondary lead in April.

Environmental inspections will end in May. Coupled with rising lead prices repairing secondary lead profits, secondary lead refineries in Jiangxi, Anhui and other places have resumed normal production, and Anhui camel repairs have resumed production from maintenance, and Anhui Huaxin's new expanded production line is expected to be put into operation. Therefore, despite the continuous production suspension of Inner Mongolia Taiding's environmental management and control and Jiangxi Fengri's renewal and suspension of production, China’s secondary lead output is still expected to rise in May. SMM expects China's secondary lead output to increase over 20,000 mt to 324,000 mt in May.