Secondary lead smelters operating rate higher at 49.9% on week

SHANGHAI, Jan 3 (SMM) – Operating rates across licensed smelters of secondary lead in Jiangsu, Anhui and Henan provinces averaged 49.9% in the week ended January 3, up 2.3 percentage points from the previous week, showed a SMM survey. Downstream battery producers have yet to commence pre-holiday stockpiling. 

The rate recovered after three consecutive weeks of decline, as production at Henan Jinli resumed to seven days this week, lifting the average operating rate in Henan by 7.4 percentage points on the week to 57.5%. 

Operating rates in Anhui averaged 40%, 1.1 percentage points higher from a week earlier, as Anhui Huaxin resumed normal operation hours. The rate in Jiangsu, meanwhile, remained unchanged on the week at 56%.