Social inventories of lead ingots extended declines in a traditional high consumption season

SHANGHAI, Aug 7 (SMM) –Social inventories of lead ingots across Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Tianjin shrank 900 mt from a week ago to 36,800 mt as of August 7, showed SMM data. 

Some primary lead smelters in Henan recovered from maintenance, while downstream battery makers restocked actively as battery consumption improved. 

Downstream buyers stockpiled at the start of this week when lead prices weakened, but stood on the sidelines or turned to cheaper secondary lead in the second half of this week when lead prices jumped above 16,500 yuan/mt. Secondary refined lead was mainly traded at discounts of 350-450 yuan/mt against the average price of SMM 1# lead as of August 7. 

SMM expects lead social inventories to dip next week as primary and secondary lead smelters are likely to keep stable production and downstream consumption is expected to remain moderate.