Weekly Brief Review of the Lead Concentrate Market (January 12, 2026–January 16, 2026) [SMM Lead Concentrate Weekly Review]

After silver prices surged significantly this week, some lead-zinc mines became more proactive in selling their lead concentrate inventories containing silver. Several lead-zinc mines chose to retain some unsold lead concentrate inventories after completing last year's sales tasks, planning to sell them in 2026 to alleviate this year's sales target pressure. In the imported ore trade market, offers remained scarce, and lead concentrate TCs for January held steady at -$130 to -$160/dmt. Silver prices fluctuated at highs this week, and the long-term bullish trend for silver remained unchanged. After the payable indicator for silver in lead concentrates was raised at the beginning of the year, it remained stable this week. Additionally, according to SMM, the payable indicator for silver in a few zinc concentrates with slightly higher silver content also saw a slight increase, but the mainstream pricing for silver in zinc concentrates remained unchanged.