The secondary lead industry is facing difficulties during the off-season for lead-acid battery consumption. Low scrap volumes due to reduced battery replacements, combined with intense competition among recyclers, create significant pressure for scrap dealers to collect waste batteries. Secondary lead smelters are struggling with poor arrivals of waste batteries and high costs, resulting in losses of 600-800 yuan per ton of secondary refined lead. High lead ingot inventories and weak demand from downstream battery manufacturers further exacerbate the situation. Despite plans for new capacity in May, production cuts are anticipated as the industry grapples with tight raw material supplies and declining output.

[SMM Social Inventory of Lead Ingots: Widening Spread Between Futures and Spot Prices Drives Transfer to Delivery Warehouse, Social Inventory of Lead Ingots Continues to Increase] After the Labour Day holiday, the weak consumption in the lead-acid battery market persisted, with some enterprises continuing to use their previous inventory, resulting in limited demand for lead ingot procurement. Meanwhile, as lead prices weakened, downstream enterprises maintained a strong wait-and-see sentiment, making just-in-time procurement only, and were unable to quickly digest the accumulated lead ingot inventory during the holiday period.....

[SMM Lead Midday Review: Sluggish Trading Atmosphere in Spot Market, No Advantage in Secondary Refined Lead Transactions] SMM reported on May 8: Today, the SMM 1# lead average price rose by 75 yuan/mt from yesterday to 16,625 yuan/mt, with the price difference between primary metal and scrap at 25 yuan/mt.

[SMM Lead Morning News: Overseas Inventories Drop by Nearly 5,000 mt Daily, LME Lead Recovers from Losses in the Previous Two Days] SMM reported on May 8: Overnight, LME lead opened at $1,918/mt. Dragged down by the weakness of SHFE lead during the Asian session, LME lead was in the doldrums, hitting a low of $1,915/mt during the session. However, as it entered the European session, the center of LME lead's operation gradually shifted upwards...

【SMM Lead Morning Meeting Summary: Favourable macro front news boosts lead prices, but spot market remains weaker than futures】The US Fed has once again paused interest rate cuts, warning of stagflation risks and reiterating the "increase" in uncertainty. The off-season trend of lead consumption in the domestic market remains unchanged, with difficulties in destocking lead ingots, and spot lead is generally traded at a discount. Meanwhile, the imbalance in the supply of raw materials such as scrap batteries is prominent...

[SMM Analysis: Breakdown of Production Plans for Secondary Lead Enterprises in May] SMM reported on May 7: According to multiple secondary lead smelters, the current loss per mt of secondary refined lead is as high as 600-800 yuan/mt. Under these market conditions, enterprises have low production enthusiasm, and many enterprises are planning maintenance and shutdowns in May. Below is the breakdown of production plans compiled by SMM, for reference only.

The following table shows the ferrous and nonferrous metals movement on the SHFE and DCE on 7 May, 2025

[SMM Shanghai and Other 1# Lead Markets: SHFE Lead Futures Market Shows Significant Fluctuations, While Spot Market Still Trades at a Discount] SMM News on May 7: Chihong lead in the Shanghai market was priced at 16,720-16,770 yuan/mt, with a premium of 50-100 yuan/mt against the SHFE lead 2505 contract. JCC lead in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region was quoted at 16,660-16,740 yuan/mt, with a premium of 0-20 yuan/mt against the SHFE lead 2505 contract. Today, the central bank announced RRR cuts and interest rate cuts. The SHFE lead futures market once approached 16,900 yuan/mt, but the fundamental performance was poor...

[SMM Lead Midday Review: Refined Lead Suppliers Offer Few Quotations, Downstream Sentiment Leans Towards Wait-and-See] SMM reported on May 7: Today, the SMM 1# lead average price dropped by 50 yuan/mt from yesterday to 16,550 yuan/mt, with the price difference between primary metal and scrap at 0 yuan/mt. Due to loss pressures, secondary lead smelters had a low willingness to sell, offering few quotations during the morning session. Smelter quotations were at discounts of 50-0 yuan/mt against the SMM 1# lead average price, with a few quotations at premiums of 25-50 yuan/mt.