As of November 20, the in-factory inventory of primary lead delivery brands was 6,400 mt, down by about 300 mt WoW.
Recently, maintenance and resumption coexisted among primary lead enterprises in east China, leading to a regional tightening of lead ingot supply. Meanwhile, lead prices fell, squeezing secondary lead profits, prompting secondary lead enterprises to hold prices firm and sell. Quotations for secondary refined lead against the SMM #1 lead average price were at discounts of 50-0 yuan/mt ex-factory. In some regions, prices were almost the same as those of primary lead, causing downstream enterprises to prefer purchasing primary lead, thereby reducing smelter inventories. Next week, primary lead enterprises in east and central China will still be undergoing maintenance and resumption. Under regionally tight supply, smelter in-factory inventories may remain low.
