SHANGHAI, Dec. 24 (CBI China) -- From last Friday (Dec. 19th) market rumors spread again that Chinese State Reserve Bureau (CSRB) will reserve non-ferrous metals, according to the relevant executives of enterprises, the news CSRB will purchase 300 kt of zinc as reserves has been confirmed, and the specific implementation plan and time are still under discussion. The next target is likely to be aluminum. The domestic metal futures markets improved as the news began to spread, the dominant contract prices were close to high limit in the afternoon on Monday (Dec. 22nd). 

    Although lead is not included into the metal reserves list of CSRB, the pull-up of other metal prices and the improved market sentiment boosted the lead market; in addition, December is the traditional peak season for lead-acid batteries, leading better lead consumption than other metals. Domestic lead prices fluctuated strongly around RMB 10,000/mt, the substantial progress of zinc or aluminum reserves will certainly have an indirect effect on the upward trend of lead prices, even if there is no measures to be involved in the lead supply and demand fundamentals during the same period.

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