Social Inventory of Lead Ingot Fell as Consumption Resumed and Secondary Lead was Less Cost-effective

SHANGHAI, Sep 5 (SMM) - As of September 5, the social inventory of lead ingots across Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Tianjin was 69,900 mt, down 5,100 mt from last Friday (September 2) and 4,500 mt from last Monday (August 29).

According to the research, after the power rationing ended, enterprises in various places resumed the production. However, lead price fell and the losses of secondary lead smelters expanded. Therefore, smelters were less willing to ship and smelters in some places reduced the production. In this scenario, the price spread between refined lead and secondary refined lead almost narrowed to 0, hence the downstream enterprises tended to purchase refined lead. In addition, in September, amid the traditional peak season of lead-acid battery and the end of power rationing, some enterprises may further increase the production. Therefore, the demand for lead further increased. In addition, due to the decline in lead prices, downstream enterprises purchased on dips.