Spot market, with the approach of the Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays this week (September 22-26, 2025), downstream stockpiling before the holiday concluded. Smelters actively pre-sold or scheduled shipments under long-term contracts to mitigate the expected post-holiday inventory buildup. In Henan, suppliers offered #1 lead at prices around parity with the SMM average, with a small volume of transactions concluded at a discount of 110-120 yuan/mt against the SHFE lead 2510 contract. In Hunan, the situation of smelters selling at a discount no longer occurred; some smelters suspended offers after selling out their spot orders. In Guangdong, the premium saw a slight increase of 0-30 yuan/mt. For secondary refined lead, mid-week, downstream purchasing enthusiasm improved noticeably following a slight correction in lead prices. However, the limited availability of circulating spot cargo in the market resulted in overall subdued transactions.
