SMM News on June 30: According to SMM, as of June 30, the total social inventory of lead ingots across five regions tracked by SMM reached 56,300 mt, an increase of over 600 mt from June 23 and over 300 mt from June 26.
Recently, primary lead smelters have resumed production after maintenance, coupled with the recovery from losses in secondary lead production, secondary lead enterprises intend to resume production, leading to an expected increase in supply in the short term. Meanwhile, SHFE lead has been fluctuating above the 17,000 yuan/mt level, and suppliers have been actively quoting prices and shipping goods. During this period, the quotations for primary lead in major production areas were at a discount of 50 yuan/mt to a premium of 70 yuan/mt against the SMM 1# lead average price, and some suppliers conducted hedging operations. As the next delivery date is still some time away, suppliers are more inclined to offer spot cargoes. However, downstream enterprises have limited demand and are only making just-in-time procurement. As a result, the in-plant inventory of lead smelters has increased, while the volume of inventory transferred by suppliers is not significant, leading to only a slight increase in social inventory. Currently, downstream enterprises are maintaining purchasing as needed. Given the long delivery time, although there is an expectation of an increase in social inventory of lead ingots, it is anticipated that there will be no significant inventory buildup in the short term before secondary lead enterprises resume production on a large scale. Meanwhile, attention should be paid to the production trends of lead smelters.
(Source)