Weekly Review of Chinese Spot Lead Market (Apr 3-7, 2023)

SHANGHAI, Apr 10 (SMM) – In the spot market, SMM #1 lead prices fluctuated between 15,050-15,175 yuan/mt last week. Some downstream enterprises were closed for 1-3 days for Qingming Festival in the middle of the week, while smelters made shipments mostly under long-term orders. Tight supply in some regions kept local offers firm. Smelters in Henan offered lead ingots at discounts of 0-50 yuan/mt against SMM #1 lead prices, compared to discounts of 270-300 yuan/mt in Yunnan and premiums of 0-50 yuan/mt in Hunan. Some traders in Henan even offered to sell at discounts of 150-160 yuan/mt. Spot discounts expanded slightly on Friday as SHFE lead prices surged, while downstream buyers generally stood on the sidelines. In terms of warrants, transactions did not improve significantly. Warrants in Shanghai were offered at premiums of 0-30 yuan/mt over the SHFE 2304 lead contract, versus premiums of 0-20 yuan/mt in Jiangsu and Zhejiang over the SHFE 2305 lead contract.