SHANGHAI, Nov 1 (SMM) – Social inventories of lead ingots in China rebounded sharply this week, showed an SMM survey, as downstream buyers turned to secondary lead smelters for huge discounts and as demand was generally weak in a low season for electric bike batteries.

As of November 1, lead social stocks across Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Tianjin increased by 3,000 mt from a week earlier to 23,700 mt.

Secondary refined lead was mostly quoted in a discount of 600-500 yuan/mt against the average of SMM 1# lead, on an ex-factory basis, earlier in the week.

Lead social stocks are likely to edge down next week, as the discount of secondary lead against primary materials will narrow after lead prices plunged and as secondary lead smelters have been required to curb production under anti-smog alerts across major producing areas such as Hebei and Anhui.