This week (August 8, 2025 - August 14, 2025), the average operating rate of primary lead smelters in the three provinces rose by 0.66 percentage points WoW, reaching 68.07%.
In Henan this week, production remained stable, with minor production cuts at smelters offset by production resumption. In Hunan, companies that reduced production last week due to routine maintenance resumed normal production this week, leading to a slight increase in the operating rate in the region. In Yunnan, overall production conditions remained stable this week, and smelters that had undergone maintenance earlier planned to restart production lines next week. However, due to limited supply of raw materials such as lead concentrates, specific production plans were pending. In addition to the three aforementioned provinces, a smelter in a certain location in northern China announced that it would conduct routine maintenance at the month-end of August. A company in central China stated that its crude lead department would enter the routine maintenance phase at the end of Q3, though there were no immediate changes to the production schedule for primary lead. A smelter in east China saw a slight decline in production this week, with expectations of a recovery next week. Furthermore, another smelter in the east China region revealed plans to implement a longer-term equipment maintenance in Q4.
