Exclusive: China's primary lead output rose to 268,000 mt in September

SHANGHAI, Oct 14 (SMM) — SMM data showed that China produced 268,000 mt of primary lead in September, down 5.87% from August, and up 7.33% from a year ago. For January-September, output increased 4.77% from the same period last year.

SMM survey showed that most primary lead smelters maintained stable production, while smelters including Western Mining, Haicheng Chengxin and Zhongjin Lingnan undertook maintenance in September. The maintenance time ranges from 20 days to 2 months, leading to the decline of output on the month.

In addition, the prices of precious metals (gold and silver) continued to weaken in September, which reduced the production enthusiasm of smelting enterprises that partially relied on by-products (silver) for profit. Therefore, the actual decline of primary lead output in September was larger than expectations in the previous report.

Compared with the same period of last year, the release of smelting enterprises' production capacity has been limited in September 2019, as Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and its surrounding areas were restricted in production due to the military parade on the seventieth anniversary of the National Day, and heavy polluted weather occurred in Henan. There was no environmental impact in September this year.

Except Haicheng Chengxin continued maintenance in October, some small and medium-scale smelters in Henan and Yunnan have carried out equipment maintenance. At the same time, Western Mining and Zhongjin Lingnan finished maintenance, and the primary lead output generally remained unchanged.

SMM expects China's primary lead output to reach 266,000 mt in October.