[Secondary Lead Production Update] It is reported that a secondary lead smelter in the Philippines (with a monthly production of approximately 1 kt) has been shut down for about 2 months due to tight raw material supply and the need for technological transformation, and the date to resume production is yet to be determined.

[Secondary Lead Production Update] According to SMM, a secondary lead smelter in Northwest China has completed its maintenance work. Due to the 5-day Eid al-Adha holiday (May 27-31), the enterprise's production resumption has been delayed. It is expected to officially start producing lead in early June, with planned daily refined lead production of 150-200 mt.

SMM May 22 update: Overnight, the LME lead 3M contract held up well overall, with prices declining first before rising. During the Asian session, LME lead opened at $1,980/mt, briefly edged higher before pulling back. Entering the European session, it began to fluctuate upward, accelerating its rally toward the close, touching a high of $2,006.5/mt and ultimately closing at $2,005/mt, posting a small bullish candlestick, up $27.5/mt or 1.39%. Overnight, the most-traded SHFE lead 2607 contract opened higher with a gap at 16,700 yuan/mt, briefly dipping to 16,670 yuan/mt at the start before strengthening in a fluctuating manner, touching a high of 16,745 yuan/mt. It slightly narrowed gains toward the close, ultimately settling at 16,740 yuan/mt, posting a small bullish candlestick, up 95 yuan/mt or 0.57%. Market side this week, some smelters in east China chose to hold back from selling and stockpile due to weak lead prices, while enterprises in other regions saw slight WoW destocking in finished product inventories. Dragged by inventory buildup in east China, overall industry inventory edged up slightly. Lead ingot social inventory gradually pulled back after the delivery period ended, but the destocking pace remained slow. As some smelters resumed production, China's secondary lead production edged up slightly WoW, to some extent suppressing upside room for lead prices. Sentiment side, concentrated short-covering yesterday drove a rebound in lead prices, and lead prices are expected to maintain a fluctuating trend in the short term.

Futures: Overnight, the LME lead 3M contract held up well overall, with prices declining first before rising. During the Asian session, LME lead opened at $1,980/mt, briefly pulled back after a slight initial rally, then entered the European session and began to fluctuate upward. It accelerated in late trading, touching a high of $2,006.5/mt, and finally closed at $2,005/mt, posting a small bullish candlestick, up $27.5/mt or 1.39%. Overnight, the most-traded SHFE lead 2607 contract opened higher with a gap at 16,700 yuan/mt, briefly dipped to 16,670 yuan/mt in early trading, then strengthened in a fluctuating manner, touching a high of 16,745 yuan/mt. Gains narrowed slightly toward the end, finally closing at 16,740 yuan/mt, posting a small bullish candlestick, up 95 yuan/mt or 0.57%. On the macro front: Al Arabiya TV denied Iranian media reports citing it regarding a "US-Iran deal." Rubio: Establishing a strait toll station is completely unacceptable. Iran's Revolutionary Guards: 31 ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours. Senior Iranian officials denied reports on keeping enriched uranium in the country. Foreign media reported: Turkey nearly cleared its US Treasury holdings to support its currency. BOE Technology Group A: As of now, the company has not yet conducted business cooperation with NVIDIA. Spot fundamentals: Yesterday and today, non-ferrous metals generally rose, and SHFE lead also rebounded strongly. Suppliers became more active in shipments, with primary lead from major producing areas quoted at premiums of 0-50 yuan/mt against SMM #1 lead average price on an ex-factory basis, with a few regions at premiums of 150-200 yuan/mt ex-factory. Meanwhile, secondary lead smelters saw improved shipment sentiment as lead prices stopped falling and rebounded, with some quotations shifting to discounts. Secondary refined lead from major producing areas was quoted at discounts of 25-0 yuan/mt against SMM #1 lead on an ex-factory basis, with a few maintaining premiums of 50 yuan/mt. Downstream enterprises generally shifted to a wait-and-see stance, especially after dip-buying in previous days, with most downstream enterprises focused on digesting inventories, and spot market transactions notably weakened. Inventory: On May 21, LME lead inventory remained flat at 286,475 mt; SMM five-region lead ingot social inventory was flat compared to the 18th. Lead price forecast for today: Looking at the market this week, some smelters in east China chose to hold back from selling and stockpile due to weak lead prices, while enterprises in other regions saw slight destocking in finished product inventories WoW. Dragged by inventory buildup in east China, overall industry inventory edged up. Lead ingot social inventory gradually pulled back after delivery ended, but the destocking pace remained slow. As some smelters resumed production, China's secondary lead production rose slightly MoM, which to some extent suppressed upside room for lead prices. On the sentiment side, concentrated short-covering yesterday drove a lead price rebound, and lead prices are expected to maintain a fluctuating trend in the short term.

SMM May 18 update: Last Friday evening, the most-traded SHFE lead 2026 contract opened lower with a gap at 16,570 yuan/mt. At the beginning of the session, SHFE lead prices fluctuated downward, hitting a low of 16,405 yuan/mt. From mid-session to the close, prices rebounded slightly, ultimately closing at 16,440 yuan/mt, recording a small bearish candlestick, down 70 yuan/mt or 0.42%. Last Friday, LME lead opened at $2,013.5/mt, briefly edging up to $2,014/mt before entering a downward fluctuation, hitting a low of $1,973/mt. Near the close, market sentiment recovered somewhat, and LME lead prices edged up, ultimately closing at $1,984/mt, down $28/mt or 1.39%. Last week, primary lead production edged up, while secondary lead smelters saw both short-term production cuts/shutdowns and resumptions coexisting. On imported lead, the import window closed, and the inflow of imported lead into China decreased. The supply side overall presented an intertwined pattern of bullish and bearish factors. The battery consumption off-season continued in May, with weak end-use demand providing limited support for lead prices. Lead prices are expected to remain in the doldrums in the short term.

Futures: Last Friday evening, the most-traded SHFE lead 2026 contract opened lower with a gap at 16,570 yuan/mt. At the beginning of the session, SHFE lead prices fluctuated downward, hitting a low of 16,405 yuan/mt. From mid-session to the close, prices rebounded slightly, ultimately closing at 16,440 yuan/mt, recording a small bearish candlestick, down 70 yuan/mt or 0.42%. Last Friday, LME lead opened at $2,013.5/mt, briefly edging up to $2,014/mt before entering a downward fluctuation, hitting a low of $1,973/mt. Near the close, market sentiment recovered somewhat, and LME lead prices edged up, ultimately closing at $1,984/mt, down $28/mt or 1.39%. On the macro front: Israeli media: Netanyahu spoke with Trump, discussing the possibility of resuming military operations against Iran. Trump issued a military threat to Iran and was set to discuss military action options on Tuesday. US media: Iran plans to charge transit fees for submarine fiber-optic cables through the Strait of Hormuz. UK media: UK Prime Minister Starmer intended to resign from his position. ChangXin Technology: H1 revenue is expected to reach 110-120 billion yuan, with net profit attributable to the parent company of 50-57 billion yuan. China successfully launched the 9th batch of networking satellites for the Qianfan constellation. Wuxi will establish a large-scale "Token factory." The Shenzhou-23 mission plans to launch in the coming days. Spot fundamentals: Last Friday, SHFE lead reversed and pulled back. In the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai region, spot discounts narrowed slightly, with some suppliers quoted at premiums of +20~+30 yuan/mt, while cargoes self-picked up from primary lead smelter production sites saw relatively reduced circulation. Some suppliers suspended shipments. Meanwhile, secondary lead smelters in east China successively resumed production, and secondary lead circulation relatively increased. Smelters' sentiment to hold prices firm eased, with secondary refined lead quoted at parity with SMM #1 lead on an ex-factory basis. However, downstream enterprises had limited rigid demand. In particular, as lead prices pulled back, risk-averse sentiment in the market was strong, and spot market transactions remained sluggish. Inventory: On May 15, LME lead inventory decreased by 250 mt to 265,000 mt. On May 14, SMM five-region lead ingot social inventory increased by approximately 6,100 mt WoW. Lead price forecast for today: Last week, primary lead production edged up slightly, while secondary lead smelters saw both short-term production cuts/shutdowns and production resumptions coexisting. Import lead side, the import window was closed, and the inflow of imported lead into China decreased. The supply side overall presented an intertwined pattern of bullish and bearish factors. The battery consumption off-season continued in May, with weak end-use demand providing limited support for lead prices. Lead prices are expected to remain in the doldrums in the short term.

SMM May 15 update: As of May 15, secondary lead finished product inventories stood at 17,300 mt, down 1,580 mt WoW from May 7. Secondary lead production pulled back this week. With lead prices in the doldrums, smelters achieved modest destocking of finished products. Looking ahead to next week, a large smelter in Jiangxi plans to resume production, and an enterprise under maintenance in Guizhou is also set to restart production. Meanwhile, primary lead spot cargo is expected to flow into the market after delivery, increasing available supply options for downstream buyers. Secondary lead finished product inventory destocking pressure is expected to intensify further.

Dear Users, Greetings! In recent years, China's secondary lead industry has accelerated its development toward greater scale and standardization. As the core raw material for secondary lead production, waste lead-acid batteries are integral to the entire process spanning collection, distribution, and smelting. The trading activity, channel stockpiling sentiment, and regional supply-demand divergences of waste lead-acid batteries have become key variables influencing the pricing pace of the lead industry chain. Currently, the industry only has scattered spot cargo quotations and regional transaction information, lacking unified observation indicators that can quantify market purchase willingness, channel wait-and-see sentiment, and the tug-of-war between upstream and downstream. Market practitioners mostly rely on offline inquiries, fragmented information, and subjective experience to judge market conditions, making it difficult to systematically anticipate price turning points and stockpiling pace. Information fragmentation also increases uncertainty in enterprises' procurement, sales, and inventory planning. To address the gap in industry sentiment observation, objectively reflect the true trading atmosphere of waste lead-acid batteries, and help all parties in the industry chain make rational decisions and mitigate operational risks, we officially launch the Waste Lead-Acid Battery Trading Sentiment Index, providing the industry with a standardized, trackable, and comparable sentiment reference benchmark. Starting from May 18, 2026, we will officially publish the East China Waste Lead-Acid Battery Trading Sentiment Index and the North China Waste Lead-Acid Battery Trading Sentiment Index. This index is a comprehensive indicator that quantifies the shipment sentiment of waste lead-acid battery collectors and the purchase willingness of smelters in east China (Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, etc.) and north China (Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, etc.). The scoring range is 1-5 (refined to decimals from 1.1 to 4.9), with higher scores indicating more active trading. Collector Scoring Rules 5: Panic selling, urgently offloading at low prices to cash out, no inquiries or buyers 4: Relatively strong sentiment, cautiously shipping in batches, waiting for price increases 3: Normal shipments following market trends, just-in-time procurement, no stockpiling or holding back 2: Relatively weak sentiment, sluggish shipments, scattered and slow transactions 1: No intention to ship, shipments suspended, market sluggish Smelter Scoring Rules 5: Urgently scrambling for goods, aggressively restocking, spot cargo undersupply 4: Concentrated inquiries, large-volume stockpiling, proactively increasing purchases 3: Normal just-in-time procurement, moderate restocking 2: Rare inquiries, only minimal just-in-time procurement 1: No purchase intention, purchases suspended, market sluggish The newly launched regional waste lead-acid battery trading sentiment index aims to provide secondary lead smelters, recycling traders, and upstream and downstream participants in the industry chain with an objective and referable benchmark for market sentiment and supply-demand expectations, helping all parties grasp the trading pace, reasonably arrange stockpiling and shipments, and further enhance operational decision-making efficiency and risk management capabilities. Thank you for your long-standing attention and support for SMM! We fully understand the importance of market sentiment and benchmark indicators for the operational planning of the lead industry chain. Going forward, we will continue to optimize the index compilation methodology to ensure data objectivity, continuity, and reference value. We also welcome valuable feedback from all sectors of the industry to jointly improve the waste lead raw material trading and pricing reference system and collectively promote the standardized and sound development of the secondary lead industry. Best regards! SMM Industry Research - Lead & Zinc Division Duan Pinxi 021-20707894 (duanpinxi@smm.cn) May 15, 2026

[Secondary lead production dynamics] A small-to-medium-sized secondary lead smelter in east China cut production due to tight raw material inventory and weak lead price trends, with daily refined lead production declining by approximately 100 mt.

[Secondary Lead Production Update] A large secondary lead smelter in east China recently started furnace drying, and is expected to officially produce lead tomorrow or the day after. SMM estimates its contribution to secondary refined lead output in May will be approximately 2,500 mt.