Refined lead supply exceeded demand in 2015, says ILZSG yearly report

By Paul Ploumis (ScrapMonster Author)

March 18, 2016 08:32:59 AM

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The International Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG) has released the preliminary data for world lead supply and demand for the entire year 2015. The provisional data indicates that the refined lead metal supply exceeded demand by 63 kt during the year.

According to ILZSG, the total reported stock levels at the London Metal Exchange (LME), Shanghai Future Exchange (SHFE) and producers and consumers dropped by 83 kt during the year. The reported inventories totaled 503 kt at the end of the year.

The overall lead mine supply during the year totaled 4.347 million tons, 12.1% down when matched with the previous year. The falling mine output from China has contributed to the year-on-year decline in global lead mine supply. The Chinese mine production plunged heavily by 25.2% over the previous year. The mine supply from India, Peru and Sweden increased during the year. On the other hand, fall in output was recorded in Australia, Ireland and the US.

The global refined lead metal production declined by 7.8% during the year. This was primarily on account of lowered production from China. Incidentally, the Chinese refined lead metal production during the year dropped to the lowest level in almost six years. The production by the country fell by 18%. The metal production refined in the UK. Ongoing suspension of operations at the La Oroya plant has led to zero output from Peru during the year.

The global demand for refined lead metal witnessed a decline of 8.3% during the year. The apparent usage of refined metal by China and the US fell by 17.9% and 5.1% respectively. The apparent lead usage by the European region held steady during the year. Demand in the UK and Czech Republic witnessed downtrend whereas, those in Germany and Poland increased.