The average operating rate of primary lead smelters in three provinces stood at 66.61% this week (August 29-September 4, 2025), down 1.72 percentage points WoW. The main reduction came from a medium-to-large-scale smelter in Henan, which underwent partial maintenance as scheduled with minor production cuts, while another small-to-medium-scale smelter slightly increased output in September. Operations remained stable at smelters in Hunan and Yunnan this week. A Hunan-based smelter, which previously reduced production due to raw material grade fluctuations, did not resume operations. Another Yunnan-based smelter, originally scheduled to start production in late August, postponed its commissioning to month-end September. Outside these three provinces, a smelter in north China entered routine maintenance and is expected to resume production in mid-to-late September. A smelter in east China is anticipated to undergo shutdown maintenance in Q4, with a slight output increase in September to fulfill long-term contract supply agreements.
