Social inventories of lead ingots expanded 800 mt over weekend

SHANGHAI, Jan 25 (SMM) – Social inventories of lead ingots across Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Tianjin rose 800 from last Friday January 22 to 46,1000 mt as of Monday January 25, an SMM survey showed. The stocks were down 9,600 mt from last Monday January 18.

Lead-acid battery makers slowed stockpiling as it approaches the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday, and Covid-induced restrictions affected logistics in some areas, which led to the increase in lead social inventories.

Some battery makers will start their CNY holiday at the end of January, and more secondary lead smelters will suspend production for the holiday, and these, combined with production restrictions in north China, are likely to slow the decline in lead ingots inventories.