SHANGHAI, Mar 26 (SMM)—Social inventories of lead ingots across Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Tianjin shrank 3,000 mt from last Friday March 19 to 56,300 mt as of March 26. This was down 6,800 mt from Monday March 22.

Some secondary lead smelters in Jiangxi and Anhui started maintenance this week, which drove some downstream users to primary lead. Rising lead prices weighed on downstream procurements, which led to the slower decline in lead social inventories.

Lead social inventories are expected to continue to fall slightly next week as downstream buyers may stockpile cargoes before the Ching Ming holiday and as some primary lead smelters are still under maintenance.