SMM News on August 15:
As of August 14, 2025, the finished product inventories of secondary lead smelters stood at 16,300 mt, a decrease of approximately 2,000 mt WoW. The operating rate of secondary lead smelters remained poor, with smelters primarily fulfilling long-term contracts and having relatively limited spot order supplies. Additionally, as lead prices weakened in the latter half of the week, the willingness of some downstream battery producers to purchase increased. In areas where secondary lead smelters dominate within industrial parks or within the same province, the transaction volume of secondary lead in that region was better than in other regions due to freight advantages. Given that there are no obvious signs of a significant increase in the operating rate of secondary lead smelters in the short term, SMM expects that it will be difficult for in-plant inventory of secondary lead smelters to accumulate next week.
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