Geopolitical Issues Recur; Overnight Lead Falls on Both SHFE and LME [SMM Lead Morning Brief]

SMM April 17:

Overnight, LME lead opened at $1,965/mt, briefly touched a high of $1,972.5/mt during the Asian session before fluctuating downward. Entering the European session, LME lead continued its decline, hitting a low of $1,946/mt before finally closing at $1,947/mt, down 0.99%.

Overnight, the most-traded SHFE lead 2605 contract opened lower with a gap at 16,750 yuan/mt, briefly touched a high of 16,765 yuan/mt in early trading before fluctuating downward to a low of 16,670 yuan/mt, and finally closed at 16,675 yuan/mt, down 0.6%.

The lead-acid battery market is in the traditional consumption off-season, with limited procurement demand from downstream enterprises and poor trading activity in the spot market. Additionally, due to the delivery of the SHFE lead 2604 contract, suppliers transferred inventory to delivery warehouses, leading to a continued rise in overall social inventory. Meanwhile, medium and large secondary lead enterprises in east China concentrated on production cuts and shutdowns, including factors such as routine maintenance and insufficient raw materials. Furthermore, the SHFE/LME price ratio narrowed, while import lead premium offers rose, resulting in relatively reduced inflows of imported refined lead. Bullish and bearish factors intertwined in the fundamentals, coupled with recurring geopolitical issues, keeping lead prices in wild swings in the short term.

Data source statement: Except for public information, other data are derived from public information, market communication, and SMM's internal database model, processed by SMM for reference only and not constituting decision-making advice.