SMM, June 18: This week, SMM #1 lead ingot prices fluctuated upward from early to mid-week, then came under pressure and pulled back near the weekend. Driven by tight raw material inventories and bullish sentiment on lead prices, a small number of secondary lead smelters slightly raised their purchase prices for scrap batteries, while most producers kept their offers flat with last week. The industry remained in losses, with enterprises unwilling to actively raise prices to source materials, and the market largely adopted a wait-and-see approach. With lead prices weak and downstream consumption sluggish, smelters, despite low raw material inventories, had no incentive to raise prices for restocking. The anti-decline property of scrap battery prices became evident, and smelters also held a wait-and-see stance on price adjustments during the lead price uptrend. Next week, with smelters simultaneously undergoing production cuts, shutdowns, and resumptions, demand for scrap battery feedstock is mixed between bullish and bearish factors, and scrap battery purchase prices are expected to remain stable in the near term.

SMM, June 18: Lead prices first rose then fell this week. At the beginning of the week, smelters showed clear divergence in shipments, with secondary refined lead quoted at discounts of 25 yuan/mt to premiums of 125 yuan/mt. Downstream battery plants digested inventories, weakening transactions. Mid-week, increased maintenance at smelters tightened supply, and mainstream quotations shifted to discounts of 50-0 yuan/mt. Towards the weekend, lead prices pulled back slightly, with the discount range remaining unchanged. Ahead of the Dragon Boat Festival, downstream users halted procurement early, with a strong wait-and-see sentiment prevailing. Spot transactions were sluggish throughout the week. Lead prices rose by 345 yuan/mt on a weekly basis. Downstream users turned wait-and-see before the Dragon Boat Festival, and transactions for secondary refined lead were subdued. Smelters' raw material inventories declined, but they were reluctant to raise purchase prices for feed, leaving scrap battery purchase prices basically stable. As of June 18, large secondary lead enterprises suffered losses of 395 yuan/mt, while small and medium-sized plants incurred losses of 597 yuan/mt, narrowing by 113-115 yuan/mt compared with June 12. Looking ahead, with both production increases and cuts coexisting among secondary smelters, the quotation range for refined lead is expected to remain between discounts of 50 yuan/mt and premiums of 50 yuan/mt. Currently, low raw material inventories at smelters underpin scrap battery prices, but raising purchase prices for feed would exacerbate losses. Purchase prices are expected to remain predominantly stable. With weak finished product prices and high costs, the industry's loss-making situation is unlikely to improve in the short term, with small and medium-sized plants suffering more severe losses.

SMM June 18: This week, secondary crude lead prices rose, with a weekly increase of 175 yuan/mt. Secondary lead operating rates edged down, the sector was generally at a loss, tight scrap battery raw material supply provided cost support, and downstream made just-in-time procurement only, with overall trading sluggish. Next week, the Dragon Boat Festival holiday coinciding with downstream mid-year stocktaking will keep demand weak. Maintenance-production resumptions competition on the supply side, coupled with bearish pressures on the macro front, is expected to keep secondary crude lead prices moving sideways and in the doldrums.

SMM, June 12 – This week, SHFE lead fluctuated downward, and secondary refined lead premiums and discounts continuously changed with futures. At the start of the week, lead prices declined, with quotations ranging from a discount of 25 yuan/mt to a premium of 25 yuan/mt, and trading was sluggish. Mid-week, the market was under pressure, smelters held prices firm, and quotations rose to parity to a premium of 50 yuan/mt, forming an inversion with primary lead, with only sporadic just-in-time procurement. In the latter half of the week, futures slightly recovered, and quotations pulled back to parity to a premium of 25 yuan/mt. Downstream maintained just-in-time procurement as the primary approach throughout, and overall trading was weak. This week, the SMM #1 lead ingot spot price continued to decline, while scrap battery raw material prices remained firm, further intensifying smelters' loss pressure. As of June 12, large smelters incurred a loss of 510 yuan/mt, and small and medium-sized smelters incurred a loss of 710 yuan/mt. Affected by price cuts at the recycling end, stores notably held back from selling, scrap battery circulating supplies tightened, and smelters' raw material inventory stayed low. Scrap battery purchase prices are expected to remain strong next week, smelting enterprises' profits will continue to be under pressure, and the loss trend is unlikely to reverse. Meanwhile, next week, smelters will see both production resumptions and production cuts/suspensions, resulting in a mix of bullish and bearish factors on the secondary refined lead supply side, and spot premiums are expected to stay at current levels.

SMM, June 12: This week, the secondary crude lead average price was 14,875 yuan/mt, down 275 yuan/mt on the week, a decline of 1.8%, with both supply and demand weak and trading sluggish. Next week, it is expected to continue hovering at lows: the supply side, impacted by scrap battery cost support and production cuts, will struggle to recover output; on the demand side, downstream smelters are incurring losses and purchase willingness is sluggish, compounded by thinning trading around the Dragon Boat Festival, leaving no clear upward driver in the short term.

SMM June 12 news: This week, SMM #1 lead ingot (tax-inclusive) fluctuated downward, briefly rebounded mid-week, and then declined again, leading to a weekly loss of 200 yuan/mt. The tax-inclusive scrap battery purchase price was cut by 150 yuan/mt early in the week and then held steady, showing relatively firm performance, mainly due to smelters’ raw material procurement difficulties and declining raw material inventory. Looking ahead to next week, the pace of production resumptions at smelters varies; some enterprises have delayed resumption, while others plan to reduce or halt production due to raw material issues. Currently, purchase prices at recycling storefronts are falling in line with procurement prices, and storefronts are holding back from selling; coupled with concentrated sell-offs of cargo during the previous lead price decline, circulating raw material supply is tight. The scrap battery purchase price is expected to remain stable in the short term.

SMM June 12 news: During June 5-11, 2026, the weekly operating rate of secondary lead in four provinces tracked by SMM stood at 29.7%, up 1.31 percentage points WoW. Some smelters in Anhui cut production due to losses and tight raw material supply, while large smelters resumed production and ramped up, offsetting the reduction and lifting the regional operating rate by 2.39 percentage points. The sharp drop in lead prices drove down scrap battery prices and boosted circulation; after restocking raw materials, Henan smelters raised production, while enterprises in Jiangsu cut production due to losses. Next week, small smelters in Inner Mongolia plan to resume production, and the regional operating rate is expected to increase by 3.41 percentage points. Other enterprises will adjust production based on changes in raw materials and lead prices.

SMM, June 10: The most-traded SHFE lead 2607 contract opened at 16,090 yuan/mt on the day. In early trading, SHFE lead prices moved sideways within 16,055-16,095 yuan/mt, dipping to a low of 16,055 yuan/mt. The price then fluctuated higher from mid-session to the close, ending at 16,130 yuan/mt, forming a bearish candlestick, down 40 yuan/mt, or 0.25%. Secondary lead smelters, weighed down by losses, chose to hold prices firm and delay shipments, while the cost of scrap battery raw materials provided bottom-level cost support. Overall end-use market consumption was sluggish; the recovery in consumption during the traditional peak season fell short of market expectations, and downstream enterprises took a conservative approach to procurement and stockpiling. With the Dragon Boat Festival holiday approaching, lead ingot procurement demand from battery plants remained sluggish, the pace of lead ingot inventory destocking was slow, inventory levels tended to stabilize, and the likelihood of inventory shifting into accumulation later on increased. Lead prices are expected to remain in the doldrums. Data source statement: Except for publicly available information, other data are based on public information, market communication, and SMM’s internal database models, and are processed by SMM. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making advice.

[Waste Lead-Acid Battery Market Update] Lead prices have dropped sharply recently, prompting secondary lead smelters to significantly lower their scrap battery purchase prices by 50-150 yuan/mt to cut costs. Currently, the tax-exclusive quotation for waste lead-acid batteries used in EVs stands at 9,350-9,400 yuan/mt in the market.

Overall, the secondary lead market will remain in a pattern of "weak cost support and strong consumption suppression" in the short term. Smelter production resumptions in June will find it difficult to fully offset previous cuts, with the supply side showing marginal improvement but remaining tight. Lead prices will continue to fluctuate weakly.