Social inventories of lead ingots shrank 12,200 mt on week

SHANGHAI, Sep 25 (SMM) – Social inventories of lead ingots across Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Tianjin shrank 12,200 mt from the prior week to 23,200 mt in the week ended September 25.

As lead prices increased at the start of this week, traders were active in delivering products. In the trading market, offers for domestic lead fell from premiums of 30-50 yuan/mt to discounts of 50-100 yuan/mt against the SHFE lead contract. Meanwhile, downstream users restocked on demand and picked up cargoes from social warehouses ahead of the National Day holiday, which contributed to the decline in lead social inventories.

The decline in lead social inventories is expected to narrow next week as downstream users have basically completed pre-holiday stockpiling, though some secondary lead smelters may cut output due to shortage of raw materials.