SHANGHAI, Feb. 9 (SMM) – Lead for April delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the most active contract, opened at RMB 12,520/mt and then edged down to RMB 12,490/mt before finishing up RMB 15/mt at RMB 12,560/mt in Wednesday’s night session. Trading volumes for the SHFE 1504 lead contract totaled 1,190 lots in the night session.

On Thursday, SHFE lead closed down RMB 40/mt at RMB 12,505/mt. Trading volumes for the most active contract amounted to 2,978 lots, while positions added 546 to 15,758.

Supplies from Chihong Zn & Ge traded at RMB 12,530-12,540/mt in Shanghai last Friday, a RMB 30/mt discount to the the most active SHFE 1504 lead contract. Nanfang and Chengyuan were offered at RMB 12,540-12,560/mt, while Humon traded at RMB 12,530/mt. Sluggish demand from downstream producers resulted in slow quotations by cargo holders. Large downstream producers still in production bought largely under term contracts. Spot lead sold for RMB 12,420-12,500/mt in Henan.