SHANGHAI, Aug. 13 (SMM) – The most active SHFE 1410 lead contract skidded to as low as RMB 14,705/mt during Monday’s night session after starting at RMB 14,765/mt, and closed flat at RMB 14,725/mt. During the night session, trading volumes for the most active contract were 15,134 lots, and positions added 130 lots to 34,326 lots.

On Tuesday, SHFE lead prices initially sank to as low as RMB 14,605/mt, but followed LME lead prices up during the afternoon trading session to close up RMB 55/mt at RMB 14,780/mt. The rise in the price of the soft metal is likely to be a result of speculative operations.

In the Shanghai physical lead market, goods from Chihong Zn & Ge were initially offered Tuesday at RMB 14,550/mt, but later traded lower at RMB 14,510/mt, an around RMB 140/mt discount over the most active SHFE 1410 lead contract. Nanfang and Chengyuan resources were quoted at RMB 14,510-14,530/mt, but were barely sold. Traded prices were largely RMB 14,500/mt for Humon brand and RMB 14,490/mt for Shuangyan brand.

Lead smelters were reluctant to move goods on Tuesday since they considered prices too low, but traders were actively moving arbitraged supply into the physical market. Trading activity was extremely quiet as some downstream producers only bought to need on bearish sentiment and others preferred to use secondary lead to cut costs.