Secondary lead smelters operate at higher levels in Jun on high profits

SHANGHAI, Jul 13 (SMM) – High profit margins kept secondary lead smelters in China operating at high levels in June, SMM research found.

The operating rate at secondary lead smelters came in at 48.3% in June, up 6.62 percentage points from May, 2.34 percentage points higher from the same period last year, SMM data showed. Smelters produced 137,200 mt of secondary lead in June, up 18,800 mt from May.

June saw healthy profit margins on high prices of lead and low prices of battery scrap.

We expect output and operating rates to continue to increase in July as small or illegal smelters are likely to ramp up production after the central government’s environmental probes end. Production at some smelters with production permits is also likely to recover after limitations from the environmental probes ease.