Bears increased their positions, and LME lead closed slightly lower overnight [SMM Lead Morning News]

SMM July 23:

Overnight, LME lead opened at $2,012.5/mt. Bears increased their positions, and the price plunged to a low of $1,994/mt during the Asian session. Entering the European session, it rebounded and rose, reaching a high of $2,018/mt in the closing session, and finally closed at $2,014.5/mt, down 0.02%.

Overnight, the most-traded SHFE lead 2509 contract opened at 16,930 yuan/mt. After briefly touching a low of 16,890 yuan/mt in the early session, it rebounded and rose, reaching a high of 16,985 yuan/mt, and finally closed at 16,945 yuan/mt, up 0.03%.

Supply side, some primary lead smelters in Henan have not yet resumed production, and the operating rate of secondary lead has steadily increased. On the demand side, battery orders for lead-acid batteries have not shown significant improvement. The weekly operating rate of battery producers has remained stable above 70%, and the buying sentiment for spot orders has not changed much. The social inventory of lead ingots is being consumed slowly. After macro sentiment briefly boosted market sentiment, lead prices are still being dragged down by fundamental factors.Data source statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market exchanges, and relying on SMM's internal database models, and are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making advice.