Secondary lead smelters operating rates fell on battery scrap shortage

SHANGHAI, Jun 5 (SMM) – Operating rates across licensed smelters of secondary lead in Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan and Guizhou averaged 46.5% in the week ended June 5, down 2.3 percentage points from the previous week, as tight supply of cheap battery scrap limited secondary smelters operations, showed an SMM survey.

The average rate in Jiangsu held unchanged from a week ago at 53.3% amid continued tightness in battery scrap supply.

Daily output at Anhui Dahua declined as the smelter put its furnaces into maintenance, lowering the average operating rate in Anhui to 40.3%, down 4.9 percentage points on the week.

The operating rates in Henan averaged 49.8%, down 11 percentage points from the previous week as Jiyuan Jinli reduced capacity to only one production line.

The average rate in Guizhou recovered 9.2 percentage points on the week to 45.9%, as local smelters, except for Huoqilin and Jinlong that remained in overhaul, mostly restarted operations following 2-3 days of suspension last week due to environmental checks.