In the spot market, during this week (March 2, 2026–March 6, 2026), post-holiday social inventory of primary lead continued a slight upward trend. Downstream buyers still mainly picked up goods under long-term contracts and worked down pre-holiday inventory, and overall spot transactions remained sluggish. This week, refined lead supply in Henan increased steadily, with suppliers concluding deals at a discount of 230 yuan/mt against the SHFE lead 2604 contract or at a discount of 50–0 yuan/mt against the SMM #1 lead average price. In Hunan, smelter supply had not yet fully recovered, suppliers’ offers were relatively firm, and spot transactions were at a slight premium of 0–30 yuan/mt against the SMM #1 lead average price.

[SMM Stainless Steel Daily Review] SS Futures Trade Rangebound; Bullish Sentiment for Spot Stainless Steel Weakens SMM News on March 6: SS futures showed a pattern of holding up well. SS moved in the doldrums during the night session, but after the daytime session opened, it gradually strengthened and probed higher, finally closing at 14,115 yuan/mt. In the spot market, spot quotes pulled back in the morning under the influence of weaker SS performance in the night session; however, as futures fluctuated upward, spot quotes also followed with some gains, and the overall adjustment was limited. Recently, affected by factors such as expectations for a high stainless steel production schedule in March, a slowdown in the rise of high-grade NPI prices, and a slow recovery in downstream demand, traders’ earlier bullish expectations have weakened somewhat, and their willingness to make shipments has increased. The most-traded SS futures contract fluctuated upward and strengthened. At 10:15 a.m., SS2604 was quoted at 14,240 yuan/mt, down 35 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. Spot premiums for 304/2B in Wuxi were in the 280-480 yuan/mt range. In the spot market, Wuxi cold-rolled 201/2B coils were generally steady; for cold-rolled mill-edge 304/2B coils, the average price in Wuxi fell 25 yuan/mt, while the average price in Foshan was steady; cold-rolled 316L/2B coils in Wuxi were steady; hot-rolled 316L/NO.1 coils in Wuxi were quoted steady; cold-rolled 430/2B coils in both Wuxi and Foshan were steady. As the market enters the traditional peak consumption season of “Golden March and Silver April,” the stainless steel market is seeing a window for demand recovery. Downstream demand has gradually resumed work and production after the Chinese New Year holiday, and demand is showing a gradual recovery trend. However, although transactions have improved compared with the earlier period, the bustling peak-season momentum has yet to emerge. End-user procurement is mainly driven by rigid demand, with stockpiling…

Silver prices continued to fluctuate within a range. Today, the TD–the most-traded SHFE silver contract spot-futures price spread changed relatively little from yesterday, and spot premiums remained stable. In Shanghai, mainstream quotations from suppliers of national-standard silver ingots were quoted at premiums of +900 yuan/kg against TD. Some major-producer brands or traders with low inventory were quoted at premiums of +900~+1,000 yuan/kg against TD and were reluctant to sell while staying on the sidelines. It was learned that there were still a small number of suppliers in the market who, due to costs and other reasons, were quoted at premiums of +800-900 yuan/kg against TD. Downstream buyers actively negotiated prices and bought the dip. Premiums still differed significantly between mt-level deals and small-lot orders, and spot market trading gradually became more active.

[SMM Tin Midday Review: The Center of the Most-Traded SHFE Tin Contract Moved Higher; Only a Small Volume of Rigid-Demand Transactions Were Concluded in the Spot Market This Morning]

This week, ferrous metals held up well within a narrow range. Over the weekend, turmoil in the Middle East and the escalation of the U.S.-Iran conflict triggered wild swings in the international energy market, sending energy and precious metals sharply higher, while ferrous metals—except coking coal and coke—mostly retreated after rapid rise following the open; mid-week, although there were bullish expectations around the Two Sessions, no new news emerged, the steel market remained relatively stable, and the pattern of raw materials outperforming finished steel products continued; in the latter half of the week, the Two Sessions’ macro conclusions met expectations, but had already been priced in by futures earlier, and high-level fluctuations in international oil prices continued to support raw materials, in turn pushing ferrous metals to edge higher on a steady footing. In the spot market, in the second week after the holiday, the market gradually resumed work and resumed production, but with insufficient momentum from futures, overall willingness to purchase was not high, and transactions were mainly concluded at low prices......

Silver prices moved downwards after a higher opening this week. After the spot-futures price spread narrowed, spot premiums for physical silver ingots declined as expected, but the gap between suppliers’ quotes widened. There were still many large ingots traded directly in the market this week, or processed into small ingots and then re-entered the market for trading. Significant differences in transaction prices persisted for silver ingots across different brands and lot sizes. As of Thursday, Shanghai market quotes for national-standard silver ingots against TD premiums had been lowered to 850-900 yuan/kg, while major-producer ingots were quoted at 900-1,000 yuan/kg, with sellers holding prices firm and reluctant to sell. Downstream buyers actively negotiated and bought the dip. Some smelters or traders lowered prices due to concerns that premiums might continue to decline or because of cash-flow pressure, thereby facilitating transactions. After the Lantern Festival, downstream operating rates gradually increased, and market trading volumes continued to expand. Inventory side, total social inventory of silver declined this week. As spot premiums surged sharply before the holiday, downstream participants generally did not stockpile ahead of the holiday. Therefore, after the holiday, under pressure to fulfill order deliveries, downstream silver users purchased large volumes of physical silver ingots. After SHFE deliveries were completed in February, a large amount of spot cargo also flowed out of warehouses.

Platinum prices stopped falling and rebounded, with the most-traded PT2606 platinum futures contract on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange up 1.34% in early trading, closing at 567.9 yuan/gram. In the spot market, spot platinum prices against PT2606 were quoted at discounts of 10-13 yuan/gram, or at discounts of 1-4 yuan/gram against the Shanghai Gold Exchange’s Sell 1. Spot discounts widened slightly from the previous trading day. As for spot transactions, according to SMM, some traders holding cargo said that quotes at around a 10 yuan/gram discount to the June contract were difficult to conclude, and discounts needed to be lowered to above 12 yuan/gram. End-users made just-in-time procurement, and the spot market was still dominated by small-lot transactions, with overall trading normal.

This week, the lead-acid battery market basically resumed normal trading. After logistics recovered, dealers gradually restocked as needed. Both the e-bike and automotive battery markets showed post-holiday restocking momentum, but lead prices struggled to rise, and selling prices in the battery wholesale market remained unchanged for the time being. In addition, on the producer side, lead-acid battery enterprises gradually resumed lead ingot procurement after the holiday. However, due to lead ingots stored before the holiday or long-term contract pre-sales, downstream enterprises had limited short-term replenishment purchases of spot orders, and the improvement in trading activity in the spot lead market was also limited.

[Downstream Held Some Raw Material Inventory; Trading Remained Weak During the Week]: This week, spot discounts in Ningbo widened, while the weekly average price was basically flat WoW. As of this Friday, spot prices in Ningbo against the 2604 contract were at a discount of 70 yuan/mt, and a premium of 30 yuan/mt against Shanghai. The premium against Shanghai fluctuated during the week.

[Spot Discounts Widened During the Week; Watch Next Week’s Recovery]: This week, spot discounts in Shanghai stayed at low levels, with the weekly average price up 5 yuan/mt WoW. As of this Friday, standard domestic brands were at a discount of 70 to 60 yuan/mt against the 2604 contract, while the high-priced brand Shuangyan was quoted at a premium of 0 to 30 yuan/mt against the 2604 contract..