SMM July 17:
For the week of July 10-16, 2026, the SMM weekly operating rate of secondary lead smelters across four provinces was 30.5%, down 0.12 percentage points WoW. Smelters in Jiangsu, Anhui, and Inner Mongolia operated steadily, while those in Henan slightly cut production due to insufficient scrap battery arrivals. Looking ahead to next week, attention will be on downstream purchase activity and its impact on lead price trends, as well as raw material supply at smelters. SMM expects the operating rate of secondary lead smelters in the four provinces to remain stable next week; watch for production cut plans at smelters outside these four provinces.
![Supply Side Tightens; Secondary Lead In-Factory Inventory Shifts to Decline [SMM Secondary Lead Inventory Weekly Review]](https://imgqn.smm.cn/usercenter/xVgcv20251217171721.jpg)
![Secondary Lead: Market Suggests Raising by 175-200 yuan/mt, Downstream Purchase Willingness Remains Sluggish [SMM Lead Daily Review]](https://imgqn.smm.cn/usercenter/rDPju20251217171722.jpg)

