There were significant differences in the sales quotations of secondary refined lead. The decline in scrap battery prices slightly narrowed the smelters' loss margins. [SMM Secondary Refined Lead Weekly Review]

SMM September 5:

This week, secondary smelters had limited spot orders available due to widespread production cuts and suspensions. Regional selling price disparities were notable, with Hunan, Guangxi, and Jiangxi offering discounts of 200-100 yuan/mt against the SMM #1 lead average price, while north China mainly traded at parity or minor discounts, with a few still quoting premiums of 25-50 yuan/mt. Ex-factory prices excluding tax were around 1,000 yuan/mt below the SMM #1 lead average price. Downstream enterprises adopted a cautious wait-and-see approach, resulting in generally muted overall transactions.

Lead prices remained range-bound, with low production enthusiasm among secondary lead smelters. Increased production cuts and suspensions led to declining scrap battery demand, prompting lower procurement offers for waste lead-acid batteries. Smelters' losses narrowed slightly WoW. As of September 5, 2025, the comprehensive theoretical profit/loss for large-scale secondary lead enterprises stood at -300 yuan/mt, while medium and small-scale enterprises recorded -516 yuan/mt.

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