Lead Concentrates Market Weekly Brief (May 4, 2026 - May 8, 2026) [SMM Lead Concentrates Weekly Review]

This week, lead concentrate TCs remained stable overall. Some mining enterprises reported that in May, due to market conditions and a significant increase in sulphuric acid prices, they lowered zinc concentrate TCs, but the offer prices for lead concentrates produced and sold during the same period were not adjusted. A few suppliers of lead concentrates containing payable copper and zinc adjusted the starting payable or payable coefficient for copper and zinc in the lead ore, but did not directly lower the TCs for lead concentrates. In terms of imported ore prices, smelters maintained mainstream quotations of -$150 to -$130/dmt. Since late April, the SHFE/LME lead price ratio has continued to decline, import losses for lead concentrates have widened, and smelters showed low enthusiasm for negotiating and purchasing. Regarding the silver payable coefficient for lead concentrates, as silver prices have yet to break out of the sideways movement and coupled with complex macroeconomic influences, the outlook for precious metals remains unclear, both buyers and sellers are cautious and taking a wait-and-see approach, and the silver payable coefficients for lead concentrates with various silver content remained stable.