SMM October 10:
The operating rate of secondary lead smelters in four provinces was 34.04% during October 3-9, 2025, up 5.63 percentage points WoW. A large secondary lead smelter in Anhui resumed production during the holiday, driving the regional operating rate up by over 13 percentage points. In addition, another large secondary lead smelter in Anhui has completed furnace drying and is expected to produce lead by the end of this week. SMM expects the operating rate in Anhui to increase by about 10 percentage points next week. Operating rates in Henan, Jiangsu, and Inner Mongolia changed relatively little. A large smelter in Inner Mongolia planned to resume production by drying furnaces in mid-to-late October, but the impact on the regional operating rate remains uncertain. Due to limited improvement in downstream lead-acid battery consumption and sluggish retirement volumes in the waste lead-acid battery market, while lead price gains lacked sustainability and raw material prices remained firm, SMM expects secondary lead operating enthusiasm is expected to increase but remain relatively limited.
》Order to View SMM Metal Spot Historical Prices
