SHANGHAI, May 31 (SMM) – Overall social inventories of refined lead in China, including primary and secondary materials, continued to fall this week as losses deterred secondary lead smelters from recovering from environmental probes and as some primary lead smelters began maintenance.

SMM data showed that lead social inventories dipped over 400 mt from a week ago to stand at 34,800 mt as of Friday May 31, much smaller than a decline of 4,600 mt last week.

Stocks across Shanghai and Guangdong rose close to 1,000 mt to 7,900 mt.

Lead social inventories might expand next week in anticipation of a further recovery across secondary lead smelters and continued weakness in lead-acid battery consumption.