SMM February 6 news:
During the week of January 30 to February 5, 2026, the operating rate of secondary lead in four provinces was 38.83%, down 5.81 percentage points WoW. Production restrictions due to environmental protection-related controls in Anhui early in the week, coupled with additional smelters halting production for the holiday over the weekend, led to a more than 16 percentage point drop in the regional operating rate. Operating rates in Henan and Inner Mongolia remained stable; individual enterprises in Jiangsu slightly cut production, resulting in a marginal decline in the weekly operating rate. Downstream battery producers gradually entered the holiday period, with weak purchase intent; combined with low lead prices, most secondary lead smelters also gradually halted production. As environmental protection-related controls in Anhui are expected to be lifted next week, local producers indicated that production is expected to recover. Overall, the increase and decrease in the secondary lead operating rate next week largely offset each other, with only a slight increase projected.
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