China's secondary lead ingot output increased by 11,600 tonnes or 3.6% to 333,700 tonnes in December 2022, and the capacity utilization rate was 54.61%, according to Mysteel's survey of 60 secondary lead producers with 7.195 million tonnes of production capacity and 83% coverage rate in China.
The increase was mainly because first, the lead price increased and even reached the highest level of about Yuan 15,900/tonne on December 28, 2022, driving up profits which boosted secondary lead smelters to produce; second, some enterprises in Anhui and Henan provinces kept normal production with an increased output; third, one producer in Henan province with a newly increased capacity put into production and one producer in Ningxia province resumed production in mid-December, increasing the overall output.
Data Source: Mysteel
However, China's secondary lead output is expected to decline to 0.2584 million tonnes in January 2023, mainly due to smelters will reduce or even stop production in the middle of this month because of the Spring Festival holiday.
In-plant inventories of secondary lead also increased slightly by 600 tonnes or 3.1% to 19,300 tonnes. Since large-sized battery factories purchased actively for reserves before the Spring Festival holiday. In addition, some large traders purchased secondary lead to export, with an export volume of 9,000 tonnes in December. So, finished products inventory in secondary lead plants didn't increase obviously.
Data Source: Mysteel
Written by Edenlis Huang, huangting@mysteel.com
Edited by Paula Xu, xuzhongping@mysteel.com