Effected by the factors of economic downturn and worried about weak demand, LME lead fell USD30 to USD1100/MT yesterday.

Pressed by the soft demand from consumers and the increase of import lead, Chinese lead market keeps softening since last week and there's no improvement in the market these days.

On Feb.18, the price of China 1#Lead (Pb:99.994%min) dropped RMB475/MT to RMB11000-11250/MT, China 2#Lead (Pb:99.99%min) dropped RMB350/MT to RMB10500-10800/MT. Most consumers still hold some stocks and they have not received any orders for their products, so they are not in a hurry to replenish stocks at present. The trade of lead ingot is very slow in Chinese market as there are few buyers.

A trader in Hunan said that they did not offer on Tuesday. The trader reported that the automotive market is sluggish, weighing on lead market. Two days ago, they reduced the price about RMB400-500/MT, but there's no inquiry. Considering the low demand and the increasing supply of import lead ingot, lead price may drop below RMB10,000/MT soon in Chinese market and it may recover at the end of the second quarter of this year.

With declining lead price, many mines halted production and are reluctant to sell at low price, the treatment charge for import lead concentrate has declined to USD40-50/ton CIF China in February. The trader of import lead concentrate reported that if lead price doesn't rebound, the treatment charge for lead concentrate will remain at a low level in the near term.