Social Inventory of Lead Ingot Continued to Increase amid Weakening Demand and Approaching Delivery of SHFE 2301 Lead Contract

SHANGHAI, Jan 9 (SMM) - As of January 9, the social inventory of lead ingots across Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Tianjin was 43,600 mt, up 2,200 mt from January 6 and 4,700 mt from January 3.
According to research, the pre-holiday restocking of downstream lead-acid battery companies were about to end amid the approaching Chinese New Year, hence the consumption further weakened. At the same time, amid the approaching delivery of SHFE 2301 lead contract, the deliverable lead ingots arrived at the SHFE warehouses and thus the social inventory continued to rise. Next week, most lead-acid battery companies will take holidays while lead smelting companies will not have long vacations. As such, the lead ingot inventory may continue to rise in the future.