Dear Users,
In recent years, the Southeast Asian lead market has developed rapidly, particularly as Chinese-funded enterprises have concentrated investments in lead-acid batteries, electric bicycles, and the automotive industry, further driving up lead demand. However, the expansion of lead smelting capacity in countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia has lagged behind the growth in consumption, making it difficult to meet the rapidly increasing demand for lead.
As a result, imported lead has become the primary source of lead ingot supply in these countries. In 2024 and 2025, SMM subsequently launched CIF premiums for Malaysian lead ingots and Vietnamese lead ingots.
Thanks to the diversity of global lead ingot production standards, SMM's pricing references the London Metal Exchange (LME) lead futures delivery standards (EN 12659:1999, GB/T 469-2013, and ASTM B29-03 (2014)). During the period of increased lead demand in Southeast Asia, the demand for lead ingots with a purity of ≥ 99.99% has been particularly prominent due to the needs of lead-acid battery production, leading to increased trading activity in the lead market and a widening price gap between lead ingots with different purity levels. To keep pace with the development of the lead market and reflect the true situation of spot transactions, SMM upgrade overseas lead ingot pricing with the following price points:
The SMM Malaysia and Vietnam lead ingot CIF premium is an indicative price developed and published by SMM in accordance with the methodology described above. It may be used by both trading parties as a reference for the settlement of CIF lead ingot premium transactions in overseas markets.This price reflects the actual or potentially tradable spot price range at the time of publication of the Malaysia and Vietnam lead ingot CIF premium on each full trading day. The six price points mentioned above will be officially launched on April 15, 2026. Historical data can be viewed on the SMM website (smm.cn and metal.com).
The price is published every trading day during local market operating hours, on the morning of the trading day.
SMM will continue to monitor developments in the lead industry chain and further optimize pricing points to better serve the industry!
For any questions regarding mentioned-above pricing points, please contact Lead Analyst Xia Wenming at 021-51666839 or xiawenming@smm.cn .
Shanghai Metals Market, Lead & Zinc Industry Research and Analysis Team
Shanghai, April 14, 2026.
