SMM October 24:
Overnight, LME lead opened at $1,993/mt, touched a low of $1,991/mt early in the session and then fluctuated upward; during European trading hours, it maintained an upward trend, reaching a high of $2,013/mt, and finally closed at $2,012/mt, up 0.85%. It recorded a five-day winning streak.
Overnight, the most-traded SHFE lead 2511 contract opened at 17,620 yuan/mt, touched a high of 17,635 yuan/mt early in the session before falling to a low of 17,460 yuan/mt, and saw a slight rebound toward the close, ending at 17,525 yuan/mt, up 0.31%.
Recently, the operating rate of lead-acid battery enterprises has been stable with an upward trend, and downstream enterprises have been actively purchasing. However, the pace of production resumptions at secondary lead enterprises has been relatively slow, leading downstream rigid demand to lean more toward the primary lead sector. As a result, smelter inventories in regions such as Henan and Hunan have declined. At the same time, tight logistics vehicle availability persists in regions like Inner Mongolia and Hebei, and queuing for lead ingot cargo pick-up in Henan has continued from last week to this week. Consequently, some downstream enterprises continue to consume lead ingot inventories from surrounding social warehouses, leading to a further decline in social inventory. Additionally, the sharp rise in lead prices yesterday has improved lead smelting profits, which may stimulate faster production resumptions and output increases at lead smelters. Meanwhile, the import window for lead has opened, and more import lead offers have appeared in the lead market. Attention should be paid to the realization of actual supply increments of lead ingots in the future. However, production or imports still require a certain time cycle. In the short term, social inventory of lead ingots is likely to remain low, and lead prices are expected to hover at highs.
Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, other data are processed by SMM based on public information, market communication, and SMM's internal database model, and are for reference only, not constituting decision-making advice.
