Resumption of production in Yunnan and Sichuan accounted for the rally in April’s operating rates. Silicon plants in Nujiang of Yunnan and Ngawa and Leshan of Sichuan reopened part of their capacity ahead of the arrival of rainy session, and this offset some capacity curtailment in Xinjiang and Chongqing due to losses and tight ore supply. 

Chinese electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmakers operating rates continued to edge higher as of early May, driven by the resumption of producers in central China as the spread of the coronavirus has stalled. However, the rally in operations will be constrained due to a surge in feedstock steel scrap prices. 

Operating rates across licensed smelters of secondary lead in Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan and Guizhou continued to stabilise at 49.6% in the week ended May 8, showed an SMM survey. 

Operating rates across licensed smelters of secondary lead in Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan and Guizhou held steady at 49.6% in the week ended April 30, showed an SMM survey.

Last month, the capacity in operation reduced in Xinjiang, Sichuan and Shaanxi. Continued raw materials shortage kept major silicon plants in Xinjiang from resuming the capacity that has been shut down since February. Meanwhile, falling silicon prices prompted some medium-scale producers to cut output or undergo maintenance in the second half of March. 

Operating rates across Chinese lead-acid battery plants extended their increase this week as producers in Hubei, the epicentre of the COVID-19, accelerated their resumption of production lines. An SMM survey showed that operating rate across lead-acid battery producers in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hebei provinces averaged 65.24% in the week ended March 27, up 4.39 percentage points from last week. Chinese lead-acid battery plants in areas besides Hubei maintained stable operations this week. 

Operating rates across primary lead smelters in Henan, Hunan and Yunnan provinces averaged 52.5% in the week ended March 27, up 1.3 percentage points from the prior week, showed an SMM survey.

The operating rates in Anhui, Henan and Jiangsu remained unchanged at 0%, 18% and 33.3%, respectively, while the rate in Guizhou jumped 17.9 percentage points to 43.9% as smelters there stepped up operations.

Operating rates across licensed smelters of secondary lead in Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan and Guizhou rose 6.5 percentage points from the prior week to 17.9% in the week ended March 6, showed a SMM survey.

Overall inventories of silicon metal remained in a downward trend as of February 28, but inventory at ports increased as the resumption of motor traffic in south China accelerated the shipments of...