Social Inventory of Lead Ingots Increased Amid the Delivery of SHFE 2211 Lead Contract and the High Lead Prices

SHANGHAI, Nov 18 (SMM) - According to SMM survey, as of November 18, the lead ingot inventory across the five major regions in China totalled 53,000 mt, up 4,800 mt from November 11 and 3,000 mt from November 14.

According to research, SHFE 2211 lead contract was delivered last Tuesday (November 15), and the deliverable goods arrived at warehouse. Therefore, the social inventory of lead ingots increased this week. At the same time, the lead prices rose strongly this week, and SHFE lead prices once rose above 16,000 yuan/mt. As such, downstream enterprises were wait-and-see and purchased secondary lead with large discounts, or lead ingots in the form of long-term orders, which consume less social inventory. Next week, due to the recent rise in lead prices, the profits of secondary lead smelters improved. Therefore, smelters produced active. After the enterprises finish the maintenance in the follow-up period, the supply of lead ingots is expected to increase steadily. In addition, due to the large price spread between futures and spots, some spot goods were quoted in discounts of 400-200 yuan/mt against the SHFE 2212 lead contract. Therefore, cargo holders were more willing to ship. The impact of the delivery of SHFE 2212 lead contract on the social inventory did not occur yet and SMM will pay attention to follow-up situation.