Lead Prices to Open High and then Fall This Week

Published: Feb 6, 2023 17:25

Save

There will not be solid macro data this week. The one-year inflation expectations in the United States and the annualised CPI in China in January are due this week. The public speeches of Federal Reserve Chairman Powell and voting commission after the interest rate meeting will be the focus of markets.

SHANGHAI, Feb 6 (SMM) - There will not be solid macro data this week. The one-year inflation expectations in the United States and the annualised CPI in China in January are due this week. The public speeches of Federal Reserve Chairman Powell and voting commission after the interest rate meeting will be the focus of markets.

LME lead inventories changed little during CNY holidays, remaining at a 15-year low. Recently, overseas smelters have successively announced their production and sales performance in 2022. Some enterprises reported falling output due to the high cost last year. The current high energy and labour costs are still one of the factors restricting the increase in the output of lead and zinc smelters, which also provide cost support for the lead prices. Interest rate hikes by overseas central banks will restrict economic recovery in the near term. There were no news of significance on the fundamentals. LME lead prices are expected to hover at lows, moving between $2,085-2,185/mt.

As the time of closures for Chinese New Year varied across upstream and downstream enterprises, most primary lead and secondary lead smelters have a certain amount of inventory after CNY holiday. The accumulation of inventory has kept lead prices at a low level. At present, there are large differences in regional supply and demand, and the social inventory of lead ingots has begun to decline. The lead prices were close to the break-even point of secondary lead smelters. There is a certain support at the 15,000 yuan/mt mark. This week, the production of upstream and downstream enterprises will further resume, and the lead market is expected to improve. The market is awaiting the expectations of downstream stockpiling to pay off after CNY holidays. At the same time, we need to pay attention to the possibility of deliverable brands being shipped to SHFE warehouses. SHFE lead prices are likely to rise before falling this week. The most active SHFE lead contract is expected to trade between 15,100-15,450 yuan/mt this week.

SMM

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM‘s internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

For any inquiries or to learn more information, please contact: lemonzhao@smm.cn

For more information on how to access our research reports, please contact:service.en@smm.cn

Related News

7 hours ago

NPC Deputy Proposes Expanding Payment Regulation to Benefit More Automotive Suppliers

It was reported that during this year’s Two Sessions, NPC deputy Liu Changhai, Chairman of Camel Group, proposed expanding the scope of application of the Regulation on Ensuring Payment to Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises from small and medium-sized suppliers in the supply chains of large enterprises (mainly 17 key automakers) to above-designated-size enterprises in the automotive industry, thereby creating a “hard constraint on payment terms across the entire industry.” He also proposed clearly defining “completion of goods delivery and acceptance” as the period start point, and strictly prohibiting the disguised extension of payment terms through measures such as deliberately delaying acceptance and the non-compliant use of commercial bills of exchange.

7 hours ago

[Lead-Acid Battery Market] NPC Deputy Zhang Tianren Proposes Big Data Monitoring, Stricter Entry Rules

[Lead-Acid Battery Market Update] It was reported that during this year’s Two Sessions, Zhang Tianren, a deputy to the National People’s Congress and Chairman of Tianneng Holding Group, proposed that relevant national ministries and commissions leverage big data to monitor nationwide battery capacity, production, utilization rate, and market demand, and regularly release an overcapacity early-warning index to clearly restrict outdated technologies and inefficient capacity. He also proposed raising market entry thresholds for battery production and recycling, shifting from a “licensing” system to a national ministry “filing” system, further revising the “Standard Conditions for the Battery Industry,” and prohibiting low-level capacity from entering the market.

7 hours ago

11 hours ago

Data: SHFE, DCE market movement (Mar 04)

The following table shows the ferrous and nonferrous metals movement on the SHFE and DCE on 04 Mar , 2026

11 hours ago