SHANGHAI, Jun 21 (SMM) – The average operating rate across primary lead smelters across Henan, Hunan and Yunnan inched up 0.4 percentage point from the previous week to stand at 61% between June 17-21, showed an SMM survey.
The production recovery from maintenance at Hunan Shuikoushan smelter helped lift the rate.
Inner Mongolia Chifengshan Gold, Silver & Lead also recovered, while other smelters plan to end maintenance and resume production in July.
Weak lead prices and concentrate treatment charges, however, will likely deter smelters from operating at full capacity.
Despite firm prices of battery scrap, lead prices failed to find strong support from secondary lead prices, which maintained a discount of 100-150 yuan/mt against primary materials, as downstream consumption remained sluggish.
![Weekly Brief Review of the Lead Concentrates Market (March 9, 2026–March 13, 2026) [SMM Lead Concentrates Weekly Review]](https://imgqn.smm.cn/usercenter/bAjSC20251217171721.jpg)
![Ample Supply Circulated in the Refined Lead Spot Market, Suppliers Shipped to Delivery Warehouses and Transferred Inventory, with Sparse Transactions [SMM Weekly Review of the Refined Lead Spot Market]](https://imgqn.smm.cn/usercenter/mIbTL20251217171721.jpg)
![SMM Weekly Operating Rate of Primary Lead Smelters (March 6, 2026–March 12, 2026) [SMM Weekly Review of Primary Lead Operating Rates]](https://imgqn.smm.cn/usercenter/TmYox20251217171721.jpeg)
