Some Secondary Lead Smelters Actively Restocked, Hence the In-plant Inventory of Raw Materials Increased a Lot

SHANGHAI, Aug 1 (SMM) - According to SMM survey, the in-plant inventory of finished products across domestic secondary lead smelters totalled 38,000 mt as of July 29, up 1,600 mt from the previous week. The in-plant inventory of raw material was 165,000 mt, up 5,300 mt on the week. The increase was mainly contributed by the restocking of some smelters in Anhui approaching the peak season of downstream consumption. Inventories of finished products remained largely stable last week. SHFE lead prices were relatively high last week, hence smelters were more willing to ship. However, the transactions were mainly in the form of long-term orders and the retail transactions decreased. The shortage of raw materials did not greatly alleviate. Although some smelters actively restocked raw materials, some purchased less last week, leading to the sharp reduction in their raw material inventories.