After precious metals experienced significant gains in July, the processing fees for lead concentrates rich in gold and silver and silver-lead ores with high silver content both decreased. Nevertheless, the processing fees for low-silver lead ores remained stable. Specifically, the tender and bid prices for high-silver-content lead ores in the Inner Mongolia region reached extremely low levels, but the comprehensive quotes from smelters in Henan and Inner Mongolia remained stable. Regarding imported ores, the supply of imported lead concentrates rich in precious metals and minor metals is tight, and their tender prices have dropped significantly. However, domestic smelters have a low acceptance of the prices for these ores, which means that these ores may be accepted by other Asian countries amid the tight balance in the global lead ore market. It is worth noting that the processing fees for ordinary lead concentrates (with silver content below 200g/dmt) and the market conditions for low-silver imported lead ores still remained at -$60 to -$70/dmt, with silver refining fees at $0 to $0.1/ounce.
As for the silver payable coefficient, the payable coefficient for high-silver lead ores has recently been raised to the upper limit of 0.94-0.95, while the silver payable coefficient for medium- and low-silver mines has remained stable after a slight increase in mid-year. Despite the recent sharp decline in silver prices, smelters remain optimistic about precious metal prices in H2 due to the scarcity of silver-lead ores, and there has been no trend of a decline in the silver payable coefficient caused by the correction in silver prices.
