SHANGHAI, Feb 1 (SMM) – Production across Chinese primary lead smelters further slowed in the last week before the Chinese New Year holiday.

Operating rates across primary lead smelters in Henan, Hunan and Yunnan provinces declined 1.8 percentage points from the previous week and averaged 50.8% in the week through February 1, SMM data showed.

Rates across plants in Henan dip 0.6 percentage point to 74% as maintenance at Qinling Smelting extended to the electrolysis stage.

Hunan Yuteng Nonferrous Metals began maintenance this week, which is likely to last for 20-30 days. This lowered the average operating rate across primary lead smelters in Hunan by 5.5 percentage points to 33.8%.

The Yunnan-based Chihong Zinc & Germanium also undertook maintenance this week, but the current maintenance was conducted on the crude lead stage. Production of primary lead is likely to be affected in February.