China secondary lead output proportion to rise to 45% in 2020

SHANGHAI, Feb 10 (SMM) – SMM expects the ratio of secondary lead production to the overall output of lead ingots in China, including primary lead and secondary lead, will rise to 45% in 2020, from 40.04% in the first ten months of 2019, on the back of expansion of licensed secondary smelters. 

A SMM survey suggested that new and expanded secondary lead capacity last year that had commissioned stood at 190,000 mt as of early-December, far below expectations. Scheduled new and expanded secondary lead capacity amounts to 1.68 million mt in 2020. 

The increase in secondary lead production, however, will be capped as China tightens its requirements for green production and strengthens the environmental impact assessment regulations. 

SMM research showed that China’s secondary lead output remained in an upward trend in 2019, with capacity additions at licensed smelters contributing most of the increase. The phasing-out of non-compliant producers, together with the standardisation of waste recycling, transportation, and treatment drove demand and raw materials to large-scale smelters. 

Data from the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association indicated that lead ingots production in China has climbed since 2015. The proportion of secondary refined lead among total output kept expanded on a yearly basis, except that in 2018 when a nationwide crackdown on unlicensed smelters depressed production of secondary refined lead.