SHANGHAI, Apr. 11 (SMM) – The most active SHFE 1405 lead contract price at Wednesday’s night dipped to RMB 13,715/mt after starting at RMB 13,745/mt, and then pulled back to the RMB 13,720-13,725/mt range, aided by LME lead prices. The contract price closed RMB 5/mt at RMB 13,740/mt. During the night session, traded volumes were only 44 lots, and positions were off lots to 6,306 lots. China’s exports fell in March by 6.6% from a year ago, with a slower decline compared with February, but missed expectations for a 4% increase. Imports dropped by 11.3% from a year earlier, down sharply from February’s 10.1% rise. In response, SHFE lead prices fell back to end down RMB 45/mt at RMB 13,700/mt on Thursday. Traded volumes stood at 658 lots, while positions added 20 lots to 6,334 lots. Traded volumes were 2,130 lots, and positions gained 1,450 lots for the SHFE 1404 lead contract price.

In the Shanghai physical lead market, goods from Chihong Zn & Ge, Nanfang, and Chengyuan traded Thursday between RMB 13,720-13,730/mt, a discount of RMB 10/mt over the most active SHFE 1405 lead contract price. Traded prices were RMB 13,700/mt for plastic-steel Shuangyan and Humon resources, and RMB 13,680/mt for Shuangyan supply wrapped with iron sheet. Chihong Zn & Ge and Chengyuan moved goods in light volumes due to maintenance, with insufficient supply from deliverable brands. Downstream lead-acid battery producers, however, merely purchased goods on an as-needed basis since the fall in SHFE lead prices strengthened their wait-and-see sentiment. Overall, trading activity only improved slightly on Thursday.