Secondary lead smelters operating rates little changed as battery scrap supply remained tight

SHANGHAI, Jun 19 (SMM) – The average operating rate across licensed smelters of secondary lead in major producing areas remained little changed this week, as battery scrap supply remained tight while the recovery from maintenance was offset by new maintenance at other smelters.

An SMM survey showed that operating rates across licensed smelters of secondary lead in Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan and Guizhou averaged 46.3% in the week ended June 19, down 0.1 percentage point from the previous week.

Continued tightness in battery scrap supply kept the operating rates in Henan and Jiangsu unchanged at 50.9% and 53.3%, respectively.

The average operating rate in Anhui rebounded 1.4 percentage points to 36.9% this week, as Dahua was recovering from maintenance.

In Guizhou, Jinlong and Sanhe conducted maintenance, reducing the average operating rate across the region by 3.1 percentage points to 51.4%.