Exclusive: China's primary lead output fell to 261,300 mt in January

SHANGHAI, Feb 8 (SMM) — SMM data showed that China produced 261,300 mt of primary lead in January, down 8.73% from December, and up 1.77% from a year ago. Production capacities of enterprises involved in the survey will stand at 5.48 million mt in total in 2021.

SMM survey showed that in early January, the COVID-19 pandemic resurfaced in Hebei, and the intensified pandemic prevention hindered the logistics of the local and surrounding areas. At the same time, the pandemic situation overseas was also fluctuating. The pandemic prevention policy of Manzhouli Customs in Inner Mongolia was upgraded. Therefore, the import of lead concentrate was blocked, and the tightening of supply led to a decrease in TCs of lead concentrate. Primary lead smelting enterprises increased maintenance or holidays due to the approach of the CNY, such as Henan Minshan, Shibin, Yunnan Mengzi and other enterprises are on maintenance, and the output decreased to varying degrees. In addition, smelting enterprises in Inner Mongolia carried out equipment maintenance due to insufficient supply of raw material lead, and their output also decreased. Anhui Copper Crown and Yunnan Zhenxing resumed production from maintenance, and their output was not stable. Therefore, the overall output decreased significantly from the previous month, and the decline was greater than expectations in the previous report.

Most small and medium-size smelting companies started maintenance or on holidays in February. This situation is similar to previous years, and the affected output is limited as compared with last year. Medium and large enterprises routinely produce in shifts during CNY, and the output declined due to shift factors. However, the companies that took maintenance in January, such as Yunnan Zhenxing, Mengzi, Henan Xinling, Shibin, and Anhui Copper Crown, will gradually resume production. SMM expects China's primary lead output to decrease to 254,400 mt in February.