Secondary refined lead price trades higher than primary lead

SHANGHAI, Mar 7 (SMM) – Secondary refined lead in China over the past few days has traded at prices higher than that of primary lead, which is of higher grade, due to tighter supply, SMM learned.

The average traded price of secondary refined lead was heard at 18,700 yuan/mt on Tuesday March 6, compared with the average price of primary lead at 18,625 yuan/mt. Sources also said that secondary refined lead was trading at a premium of 50-100 yuan/mt over SMM’s #1 lead price assessment.

Lead prices have dropped over 5% over the past week, leaving smelters with bearish outlook and low operating rates. This means the supply of both secondary refined lead and its raw materials is tighter.

In addition, lead prices dropped more than the raw material prices, which cut into secondary refined lead smelters’ profit margins and further tighten the supply.

For primary lead, however, supply is relatively sufficient.

SMM believes the supply tightness of secondary refined lead would be eased gradually and its prices trading higher than primary lead would be temporary.

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