Lead Market Weekly Review: Prices Drop, Limited Restocking, Profitability Slumps

[SMM Weekly Review on Lead: Lead Prices Plunge, Downstream Enterprises Restock at Low Levels, Secondary Lead Smelters' Profitability Declines]

SMM, December 27: Orange alerts for heavy pollution weather in multiple regions remain in effect, and the affected secondary lead smelters have not fully resumed operations. Finished product inventories at secondary lead smelters across the country are limited. However, due to the poor performance of the end-use consumer market, downstream enterprises showed moderate demand for lead ingot procurement. Ex-factory quotations for refined lead were mainly at discounts of 50-0 yuan/mt against the SMM 1# lead average price, with some sources quoted at premiums of 25-50 yuan/mt, but transactions were difficult...