Lead concentrate TCs were thinly traded this week, and offers for imported ore remained scarce. In the domestic ore trade market, as most smelters had pre-booked Q4 lead concentrate supply orders, current TC offers were mostly for 2026 pre-sales, and some mines had completed the tender and bid for H1 2026 lead concentrates. Smelters in Henan and Inner Mongolia still had expectations for the continuous arrival of imported ore under long-term contracts, while TCs for smelters in southern China regions such as Jiangxi, Hunan, and Yunnan remained low. Production cuts due to maintenance at some smelters alleviated raw material tightness in certain areas. According to SMM, the decline in lead concentrate TCs for most was related to the inability to further raise the payable indicator for rich metal content. Therefore, TCs for low-silver lead ore and crude lead with minimal rich content remained stable. Although silver prices hit a new record high again, smelters maintained a strong demand for a stable payable indicator for silver concentrates (containing 4,000-5,000g/mt in physical content) in the ore trade market. Consequently, there were no expectations for adjustments to the silver coefficient in silver-lead ore, and no significant adjustments were observed for the silver payable indicator in silver-lead ore within other ranges.
