Secondary lead smelters operating rate higher on week

SHANGHAI, Nov 15 (SMM) – Operating rates across licensed smelters of secondary lead in Jiangsu, Anhui and Henan provinces averaged 53.6% in the week ended November 15, up 1.4 percentage points from the previous week, according to SMM survey.

Anhui Huaxin smelter resumed operation last weekend and contributed to output this week, but fresh environmental checks in Anhui province again shut down the smelter on Thursday afternoon. It remains unclear when the curbs will be lifted. 

SMM survey indicated that the average operating rate in Anhui rose 3.4 percentage points on the week to 39.4%. The rates in Jiangsu and Henan remained unchanged from a week ago at 74.7% and 47.4%, respectively. 

SHFE lead prices continued their slide this week and hit the lowest in nearly four months, at 15,660 yuan/mt. This drove secondary lead smelters to cut purchasing prices of feedstock battery scrap, but cheap materials became scarcer.

Thin profit margins depressed production at some secondary lead smelters, who tended to hold cargoes back from the market. This, together with environmental inspections in Anhui that affected output, narrowed the discounts of secondary refined lead. 

SMM assessed that, as of November 15, prices of secondary refined lead stood at a discount of 50-200 yuan/mt against the average prices of SMM 1# lead, ex-work with tax included.