SMM February 13: Lead prices fluctuated rangebound during the week, with low quotation activity in the spot market. Most smelters halted shipments for the holiday, while a few enterprises, facing high finished product pressure, were willing to sell off goods, but encountered limited purchase interest. The mainstream ex-factory prices for secondary refined lead spot orders, including tax, were at discounts ranging from 100 to 0 yuan/mt against the SMM #1 lead average price, with a few spot cargoes delivered to downstream enterprises at parity. Downstream battery producers resumed production slightly earlier than secondary lead smelters after the holiday, but digesting pre-holiday lead ingot inventory was expected to take 4 to 7 days. SMM anticipated that secondary lead enterprises would show high shipment activity at that time, while downstream purchase willingness would remain low. Losses at secondary lead smelters persisted, and the number of enterprises reducing or halting production increased during the Chinese New Year holiday. Although waste lead-acid battery prices declined slightly, sluggish trading activity in the lead industry chain weighed on lead price trends. As of February 13, 2026, the theoretical comprehensive profit/loss for large-scale secondary lead enterprises was -267 yuan/mt, while for small and medium-scale enterprises it was -474 yuan/mt (by-product revenues in the model exclude tin and antimony). After the holiday, secondary lead smelters concentrated on production resumptions, leading to a surge in demand for waste lead-acid batteries; raw material costs were expected to rise significantly. If purchase willingness among downstream battery producers recovers poorly, lead price increases will face pressure, and SMM expects the loss-making trend for secondary lead to persist. 》Order to View SMM Metal Spot Historical Prices

SMM February 6 News: Lead prices continued to weaken this week, deepening losses for secondary lead smelters, prompting most enterprises to actively lower scrap battery procurement prices to control costs. Meanwhile, recycling companies, driven by risk aversion and the need for cash flow, actively shipped goods, leading to a significant increase in raw material inventory for secondary lead enterprises. SMM data showed that the raw material inventory of secondary lead enterprises increased by 20,000 mt MoM. Next week, more secondary lead smelters and scrap battery recyclers will enter the holiday period, resulting in a sluggish market with weak supply and demand. SMM expects scrap battery prices to fluctuate at lows. The domestic secondary crude lead market saw sluggish transactions. As of February 6, 2026, the ex-works price (excluding tax) for domestically produced secondary crude lead was between 15,250 and 15,400 yuan/mt. Downstream refined lead and alloy smelters gradually entered the holiday season, showing low interest in stockpiling; overseas lead ingot suppliers, due to poor consumption in the Chinese market, have largely halted transactions, with only some previously agreed shipments continuing normal transportation. The trading atmosphere in the secondary crude lead market is expected to remain sluggish next week. 》Subscribe to view SMM historical spot metal prices

[SMM Announcement] SMM Adds Price Points for Waste Lead-Acid Batteries in Jiangxi Region: Dear Users, Greetings! The secondary lead capacity in Jiangxi region, after experiencing a low point, is now in a phase of recovery and growth. Currently, the annual scrap processing capacity in this region exceeds 1 million mt, accounting for approximately 6.8% of the national total. Due to its proximity to Anhui province, a major secondary lead production area, enterprises across the lead industry chain have shown significant interest. To help market participants better grasp the market trends of waste lead-acid battery recycling, provide references for enterprise pricing and settlement, and reduce transaction risks and costs, SMM, after in-depth market surveys and analysis, has decided to add three types of waste lead-acid battery prices for the Jiangxi region: Waste Battery (Jiangxi), Waste Black Case (Jiangxi), and Waste White Case (Jiangxi). These will officially take effect on April 28, 2025.

[SMM Announcement] SMM Adds New Price Points for Waste Lead-Acid Batteries in Jiangxi Region: Dear Users, Greetings! The secondary lead capacity in Jiangxi region, after experiencing a low point, is now in a phase of recovery and growth. Currently, the annual scrap processing capacity in this region exceeds 1 million mt, accounting for approximately 6.8% of the national total. Additionally, due to its proximity to Anhui province, a major secondary lead production area, enterprises across the lead industry chain have shown significant interest. To help market participants better grasp the market trends of waste lead-acid battery recycling, provide references for enterprise pricing and settlement, and reduce transaction risks and costs, SMM, after thorough market research and analysis, has decided to add three types of waste lead-acid battery prices for the Jiangxi region: waste battery (Jiangxi), waste starter lead-acid battery (black shell) (Jiangxi), and waste automotive lead-acid battery (white shell) (Jiangxi). These new price points will officially take effect on April 28, 2025.

The price of scrap lead-acid batteries remains firm. The decline in lead prices has increased the loss pressure on secondary lead smelting enterprises, reducing their willingness to ship goods and leading to fewer spot quotations. Today, the mainstream supply in the market is being sold at a discount of 50–0 yuan/ton to the SMM1# lead average price for ex-factory delivery. Downstream battery manufacturers are actively inquiring about prices, hoping to restock at lower levels. However, limited transactions have occurred due to the firm quotations and reluctance to sell from the holders of the goods.

[SMM Announcement] Notice on the Suspension of Waste Lead-Acid Battery Price Updates in Shanghai, Fujian, and Sichuan Regions: Dear Users, Greetings! Thank you for your continued attention and support for Shanghai Metals Market (SMM)! In recent years, with changes in the market environment, the trading activity in the waste lead-acid battery markets in Shanghai, Fujian, and Sichuan regions has significantly declined. Due to the shutdown of some smelters and adjustments in related industries, the market trading scale in these regions has continued to shrink, resulting in a substantial increase in the difficulty of price data collection. Meanwhile, due to the reduction in transaction volumes, price fluctuations in these regions can no longer accurately reflect the true supply-demand relationship in the market, and the representativeness of these price points has gradually weakened. After comprehensive evaluation, we believe that continuing to publish these price points not only makes it difficult to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data but may also mislead market participants. Therefore, to ensure that the information we provide has practical reference value for the market, we have decided to suspend updates for a total of 9 price points, including Waste Battery (Shanghai), Waste White Shell (Shanghai), Waste Black Shell (Shanghai), Waste Battery (Fujian), Waste White Shell (Fujian), Waste Black Shell (Fujian), Waste Battery (Sichuan), Waste White Shell (Sichuan), and Waste Black Shell (Sichuan), starting from March 24, 2025.

[SMM Evening Review] SMM March 13 News: During the off-season for waste lead-acid battery scrapping, recyclers have low purchase volumes. Meanwhile, due to the high operating rate of secondary lead smelters recently, the demand for scrap batteries is high, and tight supply has driven up scrap battery prices.

[SMM Announcement] SMM Adds Price Points for Waste Lead-Acid Batteries in Jiangsu Province: Dear Users, In recent years, the secondary lead industry in Jiangsu Province has developed rapidly, with an annual scrap processing capacity exceeding 2 million mt, accounting for approximately 19.5% of the national total. The upstream and downstream enterprises in the lead industry chain have shown significant interest in this development. To help market participants better understand the market trends for waste lead-acid battery recycling, provide pricing and settlement references for enterprises, and reduce transaction risks and costs, SMM has conducted in-depth market surveys and analyses. As a result, SMM plans to add price points for three types of waste lead-acid batteries in Jiangsu Province: Waste Electric Storage (Jiangsu), Waste Black Shell (Jiangsu), and Waste White Shell (Jiangsu), which will be officially implemented on March 14, 2025.

In H1 2024, the supply-demand imbalance of lead concentrate and battery scrap intensified, pushing lead prices to recent highs and quickly opening the lead import window.