Latest Update in the China Lead Market

According to the data released by the General Administration of Customs, the imports of lead concentrates in December 2022 dropped 36.97% on the month but increased 0.76% on the year to 80,200 mt in physical content. The imports totalled 1.03 million mt in physical content from January to December 2022, a year-on-year decrease of 14.61%.

Affected by the expectations of improving domestic consumption, both SHFE nickel and LME nickel prices increased before the Chinese New Year holiday. During the CNY holiday, SHFE stopped trading and LME nickel prices fluctuated at a high level within the rage of $28,000-29,800/mt during January 23 to January 27.

Review: During the Chinese New Year holiday, LME lead prices rebounded after falling. At the beginning of this week, LME lead dropped to $2,048.5/mt and then rebounded to $2,237/mt. As of this Friday, LME lead closed at $2,179.5/mt. The LME lead inventory changed little during the CNY holiday and remained at 20,250 mt, a 15-year low.

SMM offices will be closed for the Chinese New Year holiday from January 21 to January 27, 2023.

This is a roundup of China's metals weekly inventory as of January 20.

Despite the low SHFE lead price, the monthly price of SMM 1# lead ingots only declined 28 yuan/mt from 15,521.59 yuan/mt last Friday to 15,493.18 yuan/mt this Thursday.

The lead-acid battery market was cold before the Chinese New Year as the logistics services were halted and some large-sized traders were closed for holidays.

The following table shows the ferrous and nonferrous metals movement on the SHFE and DCE on January 20, 2023