Secondary Lead Production Plummeted in May Due to Dual Pressures from Raw Materials and Sales【SMM Analysis】

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SMM News on May 30, 2025:

In May 2025, the production of secondary crude lead plummeted, down 32.67% MoM and 12.69% YoY. The production of secondary refined lead also declined, down 36.39% MoM and 16.54% YoY.

In May, the end-use consumption of lead remained sluggish, with weak enthusiasm from downstream battery producers for purchasing lead ingots, leaving no upward momentum for lead prices. On the raw material side of secondary lead, the supply of waste lead-acid batteries was tight. The market saw a low volume of scrap, putting pressure on recyclers to purchase materials, resulting in limited arrivals of raw materials at smelters. As corporate raw material inventories declined, some enterprises raised their purchase quotes to restock, prompting neighboring producers to follow suit. This led to an increase in recyclers' reluctance to sell and a wait-and-see sentiment, further worsening arrivals at smelters. Amidst high costs and continued raw material tightness, enterprises' attempts to jointly lower prices made transactions even more difficult. With no pricing advantage on the sales side, transactions were challenging and unprofitable. The simultaneous pressure on both purchasing and sales ends dampened the production enthusiasm of secondary lead smelters, leading to a sharp decline in May production.

Entering June, some smelters that underwent maintenance earlier are expected to resume operations, coupled with individual smelters indicating plans to increase production. Therefore, the production of secondary lead may slightly recover MoM from May. It is worth noting that the short-term tightness in raw material supply is difficult to alleviate, and the subsequent impact of smelters' raw material purchase prices and profitability on production enthusiasm still needs to be considered. If the market continues to slump, there is a possibility of new production halts for maintenance or delays in production resumption plans.