Zinc/Lead Market Weekly Updates - 2025/11/28

The SMM Imported Zinc Concentrate Index for this week is $61.25/dmt, with a 11.8% WoW decrease. Zinc concentrate imported TC dropped significantly comparing with its previous level of over $110/dmt in October. Smelter's inventory levels dropped but they still have solid demand due to the need to prepare for their winter inventory. While competition for domestic material is getting intensified they switch to imported material as well, which lead to the recent drop.

The SMM Imported Lead Concentrate average spot TC for this week is $-135/dmt, unchanged WoW. Spot market remains severely tight with little signal for improvement.

Global Mine & Smelter Insights

• Santacruz Silver posted steady Q3 2025 performance, with revenue of $80M (+2% YoY) and adjusted EBITDA of $19.5M (+67% YoY). The company strengthened its balance sheet after fully paying the final Glencore installment for its Bolivian asset acquisition, ending the quarter with $69M in working capital. Production across Caballo Blanco, Zimapán and San Lucas remained solid, helping offset the impact of the May water-inflow event at the Bolívar mine, which restricted access to high-grade zones. Remediation is progressing, with production from Pomabamba and Nané expected to gradually resume from February 2026. AISC rose to $35.6/oz, driven by Bolívar remediation costs, higher ore purchase costs at San Lucas, and a stronger Bolivian boliviano.

• Silver Mountain Resources announced new high-grade underground channel sampling results from the Ayayay and Matacaballo vein systems at its Reliquias Project in Peru, alongside continued stockpiling ahead of planned commercial production in Q3 2026. The company has also stockpiled ~525 tonnes of mineralized material from ongoing underground rehabilitation, sourced mainly from the Ayayay vein and delivered to the nearby Caudalosa plant. CEO Alvaro Espinoza said the results reinforce Reliquias’ high-grade nature and mark visible progress toward mine readiness. The project remains on schedule to begin commercial production in Q3 2026.

Weekly SMM Data

• This week, zinc concentrate inventories at major Chinese ports totalled 302,000 tonnes, up by 27,800 tonnes from last week. As of Thursday, SMM surveyed social inventories across seven regions in China, totalling 148,100 tonnes, with a weekly drop of 2,900 tonnes and a WoW drop of 4,600 tonnes. Part of the regions are impacted by the maintenance of several smelters which leads to destocking behaviour.

• This week, lead concentrate inventories at major Chinese ports totalled 15,300 tonnes, drop by 5,600 tonnes from last week. As of Thursday, social inventories across seven regions in China stood at 35,000 tonnes, with a weekly depletion of 2,000 tonnes and WoW decrease at 2,700 tonnes. Regional supply of lead ingots remains tight, forcing end-users to source from nearby commercial warehouses and driving social inventories lower. With more maintenance at primary smelters in December and weaker production appetite at secondary smelters after the price drop, regional tightness is likely to persist or worsen, and social inventories are expected to stay low.

Author: Yueang He, Zinc & Lead Analyst of SMM UK

Contact: yueanghe@smm.cn | +44 (0)7522 173725