SHANGHAI, Jul. 30 (SMM) – China’s secondary lead output is expected to fall in July as the government steps up environmental protection inspections, SMM projects.

The secondary lead output, however, spiked 18.78% month-on-month to 104,900 tonnes in June, the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNIA) reported.

The marked increase mirrored results of the latest SMM survey which indicated an increase of 3.98 percentage points in the average operating rate at large secondary lead smelters to 50.73% in the month. SMM noted that rising profits incited production at unqualified secondary lead smelters.

Nonetheless, production at secondary lead smelters in Hebei, Shandong, Guangdong, and Jiangxi has been negatively affected by intensifying environmental protection inspections, presaging a fall in output in July.

The CNIA also revealed that China’s overall lead output was 404,700 tonnes in June, up 7.55% from May, among which primary lead accounted for 299,900 tonnes, up 4.11% month-on-month.