Increased maintenance of primary lead smelters continues the slight decline trend in social inventory of lead ingots [SMM social inventory of lead ingots]

        SMM News on June 23: According to SMM, as of June 23, the total social inventory of lead ingots across five locations reached 55,700 mt, a decrease of approximately 700 mt from June 16 and over 300 mt from June 19.

        Recently, lead prices have held up well, with downstream enterprises showing average enthusiasm for procurement. Additionally, as the month-end approaches, some downstream enterprises are beginning to wait for new long-term contracts in the next month, limiting their purchases of spot orders. Meanwhile, secondary lead enterprises are generally in a state of production reduction or suspension. Coupled with maintenance at primary lead smelters in regions such as North China, Southwest China, and South China, the supply of lead ingots has tightened, and social warehouses continue to experience a slight decline in inventory. In late June, maintenance at lead smelters is intensive, and most of the lead ingots involved are delivery brands. Therefore, the supply of lead ingots to social warehouses is limited. Moreover, a few large downstream enterprises may reduce their spot order procurement due to year-end account closing, and the short-term supply situation in the lead market remains unchanged with both supply and demand being weak.