Social inventories of lead ingots expanded 3,300 mt over weekend

SHANGHAI, May 24 (SMM) – Social inventories of lead ingots across Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Tianjin rose 3,300 mt from last Friday May 21 to 93,900 mt as of Monday May 24, an SMM survey showed. The stocks were up 8,000 mt from last Monday May 17, reaching a high level since May 2015.

According to SMM survey, the maintenance of the primary lead mainstream delivery brand refinery was basically over, and the supply recovered, while the refineries transferred the stocks to the delivery warehouse one after another to control in-plant stocks. At the same time, the current downstream consumption was sluggish, coupled with secondary lead diverting the rigid demand, spot transactions were mostly discounted at high, and the price difference with lead contracts expanded, which was also the biggest factor for cargo holders to actively hand over their positions. As the lead ingot inventories of several major delivery warehouses in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Tianjin approach the upper limit of storage capacity, the pace of subsequent delivery will slow down.