China's New National Standard for Secondary Lead Is About to Take Effect—What Are the Changes Compared to the Current Standard?【SMM Analysis】

The GB/T 21181 series represents the first traceable generation and the only national-level product standard for "Secondary Lead and Lead Alloy Ingots." According to the National Standard Information Public Service Platform, its evolution is as follows: no independent national standard → GB/T 21181-2007 → GB/T 21181-2017 (current) → GB/T 21181-2025 (effective March 1, 2026).

I. Evolution of the Quality Standard for "Secondary Lead and Lead Alloy Ingots"

GB/T 21181-2007 (issued November 23, 2007, effective June 1, 2008): This version marked the first time "secondary lead" was distinguished separately from general lead ingot standards.

GB/T 21181-2017 (issued July 12, 2017, effective June 1, 2018): It significantly raised the lead content requirements for secondary lead ingots.

GB/T 21181-2025 (issued February 2025, effective March 1, 2026): It appropriately relaxes the lead content requirements for secondary lead ingots.

II. Comparison of Key Elements in the Quality Standard for "Secondary Lead and Lead Alloy Ingots"—Grades

Changes in secondary lead grades: three grades → two grades → three grades.

Lead alloy ingot grades remain unchanged: five grades (secondary lead-antimony alloy 1-2, secondary lead-calcium alloy, and secondary lead-tin alloy 1-2).

Document 20231263-T-610 states: "Based on statistics from products of multiple domestic secondary lead enterprises (with a total capacity of 3.5 million mt), pyrometallurgy refined lead with a Bi content below 0.008% accounts for about 25% of total products, pyrometallurgy refined lead with a Bi content between 0.008% and 0.010% accounts for about 35%, and pyrometallurgy refined lead with a Bi content between 0.010% and 0.015% accounts for about 36%."

Note: In December 2023, the National Standardization Administration issued the "Notice of the National Standardization Administration on Issuing the Third Batch of Recommended National Standard Plans for 2023 and Related Plans for Foreign Language Versions of Standards" (Standardization Administration Commission Notice [2023] No. 58). The project for drafting the national standard GB/T 21181—XXXX "Secondary Lead and Lead Alloy Ingots" was proposed by the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNIA), with responsibility for administration falling under the National Technical Committee for Standardization of Nonferrous Metals. The plan number is 20231263-T-610, and the project duration is 16 months.

III. Comparison of Key Elements in the Quality Standard for "Secondary Lead and Lead Alloy Ingots"—Impurity Content

The content limits for bismuth and silver are appropriately relaxed, while other impurity content limits have been slightly adjusted.

IV. Comparison of Key Elements in the Quality Standards for Secondary Lead and Lead Alloy Ingots—Single Ingot Weight

Based on market demand and the actual conditions of existing producers, the specifications for lead ingots have been adjusted, with the addition of a 30 kg specification.

After nearly a decade of development, the capacity scale and technical level of secondary lead have advanced significantly, making further optimization of the secondary lead smelting quality standards a natural progression. The imminent implementation of the new national standard for secondary lead, GB/T 21181-2025, will precisely meet the industry’s evolving needs.