Exclusive: China's primary lead output fell to 264,800 mt in May

SHANGHAI, Jun 9 (SMM) – China produced 264,800 mt of primary lead in May, down 0.38% from April, and down 0.03% from a year ago. For January-May, output rose 6.94% from the same period last year. Production capacities of enterprises involved in the survey stand at 5.48 million mt in total in 2021.

According to the SMM survey, the output of primary lead declined month on month in May. Due to the second round of central environmental inspections, the smelting enterprises whose production was restricted in April were expected to resume in May. However, the power supply in Yunnan was insufficient in May and radiated to the surrounding areas. The production of smelting enterprises in Yunnan, Guangdong, Hunan and other regions all dropped slightly in May. In addition, some companies in Hunan were still in a state of shutdown due to environmental protection. Henan Jinli, Haicheng Chengxin, Chifeng Shanjin, Xing'an Silver and Lead, and Shaanxi Dongling took maintenance. The two major factors caused a large reduction in the primary lead output. Therefore, even if the maintenance is completed in Henan Yuguang and Yunnan Chihong, it is still impossible to make up for the reduction gap.

China's primary lead output is expected to increase month on month in June. Although TCs for lead concentrate have been falling all the way down due to the continued tight supply, smelting companies such as Hunan and Jiangxi reduced their production slightly this month due to insufficient ore supply. In addition, Chifeng Shanjin and Yunnan Red Lead were under maintenance. However, at the same time, Henan Jinli, Yunnan Chihong, Haicheng Chengxin and other enterprises have completed their maintenance and recovered a larger volume of production, which basically made up for the reduction brought by other refineries. SMM expects China's primary lead output to increase over 10,000 mt to 277,000 mt in June.