SMM Morning Review - 2010/1/15 Lead Market

SHANGHAI, Jan. 15 (SMM) -- LME lead market moved narrowly on January 14th, with prices ending USD 10/mt higher at USD 2,495/mt. According to data announced by the EU Bureau of Statistics on January 14th, the Euro zone industrial production November 2009 in November 2009 was up 1% MoM, and down 7.1% YoY, the smallest decline over the past 13 months, better than expected. However, the consecutive decline of the annual industrial production rate indicated a slow economic recovery. In addition, the US retail sales data unexpected fell by 0.3% in December 2009, lower than economists' estimation of an increase of 0.5%. Higher unemployment rate in the US depressed the consumer spending, which accounted for 70% of the total GDP, a sign of slow economic recovery. LME copper inventories have reported a 20-day consecutive increase since December 15th 2009, up to 150,300 mt, exerting great negative impact on the lead market. SMM believes LME lead prices are likely to fluctuate in the USD 2,380-2,500/mt range.

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