Downstream stockpiling comes to an end, spot lead premiums lowered day by day [SMM Refined Lead Spot Market Weekly Review]

Published: Sep 24, 2026 16:37 (GMT+8)

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This week (September 21-24, 2026), the SMM #1 lead weekly average price stood at 16,262.5 yuan/mt, up 382.5 yuan/mt WoW. Following last week's concentrated stockpiling by downstream enterprises, primary lead smelters saw critically low inventories and began pre-selling, driving lead prices sharply higher. During the week, the most-traded SHFE lead contract briefly touched 16,495 yuan/mt. Meanwhile, spot market activity declined as downstream enterprises wrapped up stockpiling, and spot premiums were trimmed day by day. For instance, spot order quotes in Hunan were lowered from a premium of 200 yuan/mt against the SMM #1 lead average price ex-works last week to a premium of 25-50 yuan/mt against the SMM #1 lead average price ex-works. On the secondary lead front, regional quotes diverged significantly due to differences in smelter production, with secondary refined lead quoted from a discount of 100 yuan/mt to a premium of 25 yuan/mt against the SMM #1 lead average price ex-works. In addition, the lead ingot import window narrowed, and import lead quotes in the spot market decreased accordingly. This week, the SMM imported refined lead 99.97% (B/L) premium was quoted at $110-120/mt.

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