Correction: Weekly operating rates across licensed secondary lead smelters unchanged at 54.9%

SHANGHAI, Jul 26 (SMM) – Licensed smelters of secondary lead in Jiangsu, Anhui and Henan maintained stable operations this week, with the average operating rate unchanged from a week ago at 54.9%, showed an SMM survey.

A breakdown showed that operating rates across Jiangsu, Anhui and Henan remained unchanged at 50%, 55.1% and 64.4%, respectively, in the week ended July 26.

This week, Henan Jinli processed a smaller amount of battery scrap, with a daily volume of about 600 mt, and used lead ore to maintain its production.

Supplies of lead bullion remained tight. Deep discounts of secondary lead spurred greater purchases by downstream consumers, resulting in improved trading activities across the market.

As of July 26, secondary refined lead was mostly traded in a discount of 200-300 yuan/mt against the average price of SMM1#, on an ex-factory basis and taxes included.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the figure in the headline, as the average operating rate across secondary lead smelters in Jiangsu, Anhui and Henan, and the rate for Henan remained unchanged.