SHANGHAI, Mar 24 (SMM) - As of March 24, the social inventory of lead ingots across Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Tianjin was 40,800 mt, down 14,700 mt from last Friday and 12,500 mt from Monday.

According to the survey, the maintenance of large-scale primary lead and secondary lead smelters further weighed on the regional supply of lead ingots. At the same time, downstream companies purchased on demand after the delivery of SHFE 2303 lead contract. As such, the social inventory of lead ingots dropped sharply. At the beginning of April, and the maintenance of some secondary lead smelters will be completed, hence the supply of lead ingots is expected to recover slowly. But the lead battery market is gradually entering the off-season, which will drag down lead consumption. Therefore, it is expected that the decline in lead ingot inventory will slow down next week.