SMM December 26:
Recyclers in major regions such as east China, north China, and central China reported low retirement volumes of waste lead-acid batteries during the week, leading to a further tightening of raw material supply in the market. Coupled with lead prices fluctuating at highs during the week, secondary lead smelters raised their raw material procurement offers multiple times to secure supply. SMM data showed that the weekly raw material inventory of secondary lead smelting enterprises increased slightly by 50 mt WoW, indicating that scrap battery arrivals at smelters were only sufficient to maintain essential production. If recyclers' sentiment to hold back cargoes intensifies amid rising expectations, smelters' raw material inventories may turn to a decline next week. Currently, the mainstream price for waste electric vehicle batteries with tax delivered to plants is 9,800-9,950 yuan/mt, and SMM expects further upside room for scrap battery prices.
This week, there was a significant disparity in secondary crude lead market offers, which was highly controversial. Enterprises in Henan and Anhui reported tight supply of secondary crude lead, keeping offers firm, while those in Shandong indicated that high prices made sales difficult. Enterprises in Hunan stated that low transaction activity for secondary crude lead led to lower offers. As of December 26, 2025, the ex-factory offers for secondary crude lead without tax ranged from 15,650 to 15,900 yuan/mt. Due to high domestic lead prices, the inflow of imported crude lead remained moderate. However, overseas trading activity declined due to the Christmas or New Year's Day holidays, and SMM expects limited impact from overseas crude lead inflows on domestic secondary crude lead prices next week.
》Order to View SMM Metal Spot Historical Prices
