SMM, December 27:
This week, LME lead opened at $1,983.5/mt, briefly touching a high of $2,006/mt at the beginning of the session before its center slightly shifted downward. Due to the Christmas holiday, the LME lead market was closed from Wednesday to Thursday. After reopening on Friday, it dipped to $1,950/mt, influenced by the plunge in SHFE lead, and finally settled at $1,951/mt as of 15:00 on Friday, down by 1.51%.
This week, the most-traded SHFE lead 2502 contract opened at 17,445 yuan/mt. On Sunday night, Anhui province issued another smog-related production restriction notice, prompting bulls to enter the market intensively, pushing SHFE lead to a high of 17,645 yuan/mt on Monday. However, due to sluggish downstream consumption and weak purchase willingness, SHFE lead jumped initially and then pulled back mid-week, fluctuating rangebound. On Friday, affected by news of production cuts at major downstream battery plants, SHFE lead plunged to a low of 16,825 yuan/mt and finally settled at 16,850 yuan/mt, down by 2.94%.
