China Refined Lead Imports Down in January

SHANGHAI, Feb. 28 (SMM) – Data from China Customs revealed that China’s refined lead imports were only 30 mt in January, about 10% of those recorded in December 2012, and down 46.42% YoY.

Refined lead imports reported by the Customs in January were mainly orders placed in December. SMM data showed that the Shanghai/LME lead price ratio in was only 6.44 in December and fell further to 6.3 in January, leaving little profits for importing lead ingot. Therefore, lead imports staged a sharp decline. 29 mt of January’s imports came from Taiwan (China) and 1 mt came from Kazakhstan. No lead ingot was imported from Australia and Japan – two major suppliers of China’s lead imports.