SHANGHAI, Sep 27 (SMM) – Social inventories of lead ingots across Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Tianjin decreased 50 mt from September 24 to 215,900 mt as of September 27.
The supply and demand has been affected by the intensifying power rationing. Production restrictions of primary lead are concentrated in Hunan, Guangdong, and Guangxi, that of secondary lead in Anhui and Jiangsu, and that of lead-acid battery in Jiangsu and Guangdong.  The secondary lead smelters reduced shipments amid losses on weak lead prices in the previous period. The secondary lead prices were higher than primary lead, thus, downstream producers turned into primary lead. Discounts of the secondary refined lead stood at 0-100 yuan/mt (ex-factory) against the average price of SMM #1 lead. Part of the rigid demand is likely to be transferred. The decline of output at the secondary lead smelters was sharp last week. The social inventory of lead ingots is expected to decline slightly amid pre-holiday restocking, in spite of the power rationing at lead-acid battery plants in some regions.