Lead Ingot Social Inventories Expanded 13,600 mt on Week

SHANGHAI, Jul 30 (SMM) - Social inventories of lead ingots across Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Tianjin expanded 13,600 mt from last Friday July 23 to 172,600 mt as of July 30. This was up 6,500 mt from Monday July 26 and registered a new high since October 2014.

The supply of secondary lead ingot kept increasing this week, and lead prices fell back from high levels. The secondary lead smelters actively delivered cargoes early in the week, and the discounts of secondary refined lead expanded to 700 yuan/mt over the average price of SMM 1# lead, which suppressed the trade of primary lead.

At the same time, the price difference remained above 300 yuan/mt, making holders highly willing to deliver goods to warehouses. Tianjin and Zhejiang both saw significant increase in social inventories.

Lead-acid battery consumption is expected to stay stable next week, and downstream users will maintain the purchase on rigid demand. Meanwhile, new secondary lead capacities will be released, and the social inventories of lead ingots are expected to rise further.