Due to declining operating enthusiasm among lead smelters and the recovery of supply from lead-zinc mines in China, lead concentrates in the Chinese market were slightly more abundant in April. In addition, affected by weak silver prices and unclear expectations, smelters actively negotiated prices as by-product revenue declined. It is understood that the tender and bid prices for lead concentrates at some lead-zinc mines have already risen slightly by varying amounts of 30-50 yuan/mt Pb, while smelters maintained strong wait-and-see sentiment. In regions such as Hunan and Yunnan, some small-scale smelters still extended their maintenance-related shutdown cycles. Although sentiment in the precious metals market was pessimistic in the short term, the payable indicator for silver content in lead concentrates with various silver grades in the market has not yet been adjusted. Negotiations between mines and smelters mainly focused on increasing TCs. Except that some silver concentrates whose coefficient was raised in Q1 (with silver content above 3,000 g/t) no longer quoted high prices above 0.97, the silver payable indicators of other types of silver-bearing lead concentrates remained stable.

[Supply Disruptions Persist, Imported TCs Continued to Decline]: Weekly data showed that the average weekly TC of SMM Zn50 domestic ore was unchanged at 1,550 yuan/mt in metal content, and the SMM imported zinc concentrate index fell $4.13/dmt MoM to $11.25/dmt...

[Zinc Concentrates Production] According to SMM, a lead-zinc ore mine in Southwest China is expected to resume work and production in mid-March, and is expected to add around 2,000 mt in metal content of zinc concentrates MoM in March.

On February 28, Israeli Air Force fighter jets crossed thousands of kilometers of airspace to conduct a daylight precision strike on the center of Tehran, Iran's capital, drawing significant market attention. How will this conflict impact zinc concentrates? .

According to SMM, as the Chinese New Year holiday approaches, multiple lead-zinc mines in China will enter the conventional production suspension period for the holiday, lasting from one to two weeks. Additionally, some smelters in north China have started their winter break early, with shutdowns lasting two to three months. The supply of lead concentrates in China declined as expected. In the imported ore market, lead concentrate TCs for February remained at -150 to -160 US dollars per dmt. Due to the Chinese New Year holiday, combined with the completion of winter stockpiling by smelters, maintenance shutdowns, and a pause in quotations, market trading activity weakened. This week, approaching the holiday, smelters generally delayed their raw material procurement needs until after the holiday. Precious metal prices consolidated sideways, and the payable indicator for silver contained in lead concentrates showed no significant changes or negotiations. Some smelters adopted a wait-and-see stance temporarily to avoid risks from declining silver processing margins and lower operational expectations. The situation seen in 2026, where smelters "scrambled" for silver-bearing raw materials at the cost of lower TCs, has eased as the overheated precious metals market cooled down. In the short term, TCs for lead concentrates with medium to low silver content remain generally stable.

Historically, domestic zinc concentrate production typically declines continuously from December to February each year. There are two main reasons: first, some mines undergo routine shutdowns in winter due to weather conditions; second, the Chinese New Year holiday falls early in the year, during which many mines suspend operations or conduct maintenance. As this year's Chinese New Year holiday approaches, how will these factors specifically affect domestic zinc concentrate supply？

[Metallurgical Enterprise Dynamics] On February 11, in an auction conducted on the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region's natural resource online trading system, Zhongjin (Xing'an League) Mining Co., Ltd. won the exploration rights for "Detailed Survey of Area 1 of the Fuxingtun Silver-Lead-Zinc Polymetallic Mine in Horqin Right Wing Front Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region" with the highest bid of 7.87 billion yuan. The resource amount reviewed and filed as of 2020 is as follows: silver ore volume 26.292 million mt (silver metal content 5,105 mt (grade 194.17 g/mt)); associated zinc metal content 235,700 mt, lead metal content 135,200 mt, constituting a large-scale concealed deposit.

[Lead Smelter Updates] Recently, Yunnan Chihong Zn & Ge Co., Ltd. (600497) stated on an interactive platform that the company primarily focuses on the extraction, enrichment, and efficient recovery technologies of germanium resources associated with lead-zinc mines. By deepening strategic collaboration with its joint venture Chalco Qianxing (Chengdu) Technology Co., Ltd., it continues to provide stable, high-quality germanium raw material supplies. The processing of the mining license and project design optimization for the Jinxin Molybdenum Mine are progressing in an orderly manner. The Huize Mining Mine Plant has not implemented a deep expansion project; instead, it is advancing the optimization of its deep safety system, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.

[Lead-Zinc Mine Market Information] Recently, the Department of Natural Resources of Yunnan Province announced the 2025 provincial-level green mine list. Twenty-six mines, including the Lanping Lead-Zinc Mine operated by Yunnan Jinding Zinc Industry Co., Ltd., were officially included in the provincial green mine directory of Yunnan Province after public selection. As of now, Yunnan Province has a total of 103 national and provincial green mines. Among them, the Lanping Lead-Zinc Mine operated by Yunnan Jinding Zinc Industry Co., Ltd. filled the gap of provincial green mines in Nujiang Prefecture, marking that the construction of green mines across the province is accelerating and advancing in depth.

SMM Analysis：As of June 6, 2025, the SMM weekly domestic zinc concentrate TC rose to 3,600 yuan/mt (metal content), and the SMM imported zinc ore index increased by $50.35/dmt, with overall processing fees continuing to rise compared to May. Behind the sustained high production of smelters, what factors are driving the increase in zinc concentrate TCs in June? Let's analyze this from the supply side.....