Lead Supply to Grow Further in March

The output of primary lead decreased slightly in February compared with January due to shorter production time as there were only 28 calendar days in February, even as new production capacity was commissioned during the period.

The completion of maintenance at large smelting enterprises in Anhui and Zhejiang, combined with the release of new production capacity, drove the overall supply to increase month-on-month. There is only a small number of primary lead and secondary lead smelting enterprises that will undertake maintenance in March. In addition, there are 31 days in March, thus the reduced output at smelting enterprises in February will recover. Output from new capacity will also increase. As such, the supply in March will grow further.

The maintenance of secondary lead smelters in Jiangxi, Anhui, Shandong and Hebei would keep regional supply of lead ingots tight into March.