Secondary Crude Lead Supply Increases, Downstream Maintains Restocking for Rigid Demand [SMM Secondary Crude Lead Weekly Review]

Published: Aug 21, 2026 17:06

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SMM August 21 News:

Lead prices consolidated at highs during the week, the loss-making range for secondary lead smelters narrowed, production sentiment improved, and domestic secondary crude lead supply increased. As of this Friday, mainstream transaction prices for secondary crude lead, including tax and delivered to plant, were concentrated at 14,450-14,600 yuan/mt. Sources containing antimony and tin metals were more mainstream, with quotations relatively high. Due to the bullish trend in China's lead prices, the willingness to import crude lead increased, and some spot order quotations were quoted at parity with the SMM #1 lead average price EXW at port. Looking ahead to next week, the peak season for end-use consumption is unlikely to fully materialize, so downstream battery and alloy enterprises will maintain rigid demand restocking. The transaction performance of the domestic secondary crude lead market will have limited changes compared to this week. Close attention should be paid to the impact of imported crude lead inflows on the Chinese market.

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