Lead Prices Strengthen After the Holiday, Downstream Cautious and Observing in Procurement [SMM Refined Lead Spot Market Weekly Review]

In the spot market, SMM 1# lead prices operated within the range of 16,825-16,950 yuan/mt over the three trading days this week (February 5-7, 2025).

In the spot market, after the Chinese New Year holiday, logistics in some regions had not yet resumed, leading to overall sluggish transactions in the spot market. Post-holiday lead prices rose, but downstream enterprises mainly relied on long-term contract cargo pick-up or consumed pre-holiday inventories, with minimal interest in spot order purchases. On the supply side, recovery was relatively slow after the holiday, and suppliers maintained firm offers. Smelters in Henan quoted a premium of 0-100 yuan/mt against SMM 1# lead, while smelters in Hunan had not yet resumed supply, with primary lead seeing limited transactions at a premium of 100-130 yuan/mt. In Yunnan, primary lead was quoted at a discount of 200 yuan/mt, while warehouse warrants in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai were quoted at a premium of 0-50 yuan/mt against the SHFE lead 2503 contract, with limited transactions. Towards the weekend, slight adjustments were observed in premiums and discounts across regions. Additionally, in the secondary refined lead market, raw material supply constraints hindered the recovery of secondary refined lead production. Suppliers of secondary refined lead quoted slight premiums against the SMM 1# lead average price, but downstream inquiries were scarce, and market transactions were lackluster.

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