Primary lead smelters operating rates edged higher this week

SHANGHAI, Sep 4 (SMM) — Operating rates across primary lead smelters in Henan, Hunan and Yunnan provinces averaged 59.3% in the week ended September 4, up 0.9 percentage point from the previous week, showed an SMM survey.

The average operating rate for smelters in Henan gained 1.9 percentage points to 75.5%, and rates for Yunnan and Hunan remained unchanged at 35.8% and 47.2% respectively. 

Henan Jinli returned to normal production this week, while West Mining started its one-month maintenance which is expected to reduce output by about 7,000 mt. Hunan Jingui plans to resume operations at the end of September, and there were market talks that Hunan Yuteng will undergo maintenance.