This week (March 20-26, 2026), the average operating rate of primary lead smelters in the three provinces was 62.81, up 0.22 percentage points WoW from the previous week. This week, a small-to-medium-sized smelter in Henan entered a routine 10-15-day maintenance cycle, leading to a slight decline in the operating rate in Henan. In Hunan, a medium-sized smelter that had previously not yet reached full production slightly ramped up output this week, contributing the main increase in production; smelter production in Yunnan remained stable. In addition, some small smelters in Yunnan and Hunan still had no expectations of resuming production for the time being due to raw materials and downstream orders, among other factors.
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![Downstream Enterprises Bought the Dip, and Primary Lead Enterprise Plant Inventory Continued to Decline [SMM Weekly Review of Primary Lead Inventory]](https://imgqn.smm.cn/usercenter/hrxHx20251217171721.jpeg)
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