SMM Secondary Lead Smelter Weekly Operating Rate, July 31-August 6, 2026 [SMM Lead Weekly Review]

SMM August 7 news:

For the week of July 31-August 6, 2026, the SMM secondary lead weekly operating rate across four provinces stood at 27.4%, down 1.19 percentage points WoW. In Jiangsu and Inner Mongolia, most large furnaces at smelters remained shut; in Henan, raw material arrivals were moderate, and production remained stable; in Anhui, an individual smelter halted production yesterday, causing the regional operating rate for the week to drop by 3.75 percentage points, and it is expected to decline by a further approximately 4 percentage points next week. If lead prices continue to consolidate next week, and smelters in other provinces have no plans to ramp up production, the overall operating rate across the four provinces may drop by another 1.31 percentage points. Currently, recycling-side enterprises are cautious about selling, and raw material arrivals next week will be the key variable constraining smelter output.