SHANGHAI, Mar 12 (SMM)—Social inventories of lead ingots across Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Tianjin rose 9,700 mt from last Friday March 5 to 67,600 mt as of March 12. This was up 9,100 mt from Monday March 8.

As it approached the delivery date, in-plant lead stocks were shipped to social warehouses, which led to the sharp rise in lead social inventories.

The increase in social inventories is expected to slow next week as the delivery comes to an end. In addition, some lead smelters will conduct maintenance, while downstream lead-acid battery consumption has basically recovered