According to a survey by SMM, the operating rate of primary lead smelters this week (December 14–20, 2024) was 58.61%, down 4.3 percentage points WoW. This week, a medium-sized smelter in Henan slightly increased production, smelters in Yunnan maintained stable production, while smelters in Hunan that had previously cut crude lead production due to environmental protection impacts began to shut down primary lead production as scheduled, leading to a significant decline in the operating rate. Crude lead production in this region is expected to resume next week after completing rectifications, but some smelters mentioned difficulties in stocking raw material inventories, which may delay the resumption of primary lead production. Outside the surveyed samples of the three provinces, a smelter in Guangxi saw a slight decline in primary lead production, and a smelter in Guangdong is expected to delay routine maintenance recovery until after New Year's Day.
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