The average operating rate of primary lead smelters in three provinces this week (January 2, 2026 – January 8, 2026) was 66.60%, down 0.66 percentage points WoW.
This week, the operating rate in Henan remained stable; in Hunan, primary lead production at a smelter that had undergone crude lead maintenance continued to decline slightly, while another smelter slightly cut production due to crude lead maintenance, with primary lead expected to enter routine maintenance in mid-January; a smelter in Yunnan experienced production fluctuations and slightly reduced output. In other regions, a smelter in South China entered routine maintenance and is expected to resume production in late January; another smelter in East China, which had previously been shut down for maintenance, is expected to delay its maintenance recovery until late January.
