This week, the lead concentrate market remained generally stable, with the tight supply of imported ore and the absence of quotations continuing. For long-term contracts in 2026, most traders could only offer the minimum supply quantity for the forward period but were still unable to determine TCs quotations. In the domestic ore trade market, smelters in Henan, Inner Mongolia, and other regions continued purchasing as needed. After the correction from high silver prices, except for a few mines accepting a slight correction in TCs to compensate for smelters' processing profit losses, most mines and smelters did not mention adjustments to lead concentrate TCs. The decline in production operations at smelters in southern regions such as Jiangxi, Hunan, and Yunnan due to supply deficits of lead concentrates showed no signs of easing. The payable indicator for silver concentrates (containing 4,000–5,000 g/mt in physical content) has been raised to the upper limit, with one mining enterprise reporting a maximum payable indicator of 95.5 for silver content in silver concentrates. There is no possibility of further increases in the short term, so the premium brought by the significant rise in silver prices has already been reflected in lead concentrate TCs. If silver prices weaken, the TCs for some silver-bearing lead concentrates that previously experienced significant declines may see a slight compensatory increase.
