China refined lead output in March

In March 2024, the domestic refined lead output was 293,700 mt, an increase of 6.38% month-on-month but a year-on-year decrease of 9.13%. The combined output from January-March declined by 3.3% on the year. Production capacities of enterprises involved in the survey totalled 6.0063 million mt in 2024.

According to the survey, the impact of the Chinese New Year holiday in March eased, and the calendar days in March increased from February to 31 days. The output of most lead smelters increased. At the same time, lead smelters in Hunan, Yunnan, Henan, Guangdong and other regions completed maintenance, resulting in a large increase in refined lead production in March. Some smelters in Hunan and Liaoning conducted maintenance during the period, and some smelters’ actual production was lower than planned due to insufficient supply of lead concentrate. Nonetheless, that did not affect the growth trend of refined lead output in March.

There will be maintenance and output recoveries at refined lead smelters in April. The companies that will undertake maintenance are concentrated in Henan which are large-scale smelters. The maintenance of their crude lead systems will last for 15 to 40 days, while the impact on the refined lead production lines will be limited. Output at smelters in Hunan Province will recover, which will bring an increase of more than 10,000 mt. The tight supply of domestic lead concentrate remains unchanged, and the TCs of lead concentrate were lowered again. SMM data showed that TCs for Pb 50% low-Ag lead concentrate were 600-900 yuan/mt with metal content, 50 yuan/mt with metal content lower than in March. TCs of high-Ag lead concentrate were zero to negative figures. SMM expects refined lead production to rise only slightly in April to 297,000 mt.