Chinese lead concentrate import market dull
2014-07-15 09:43:54 [Print]
BEIJING (Asian Metal) 15 Jul 14 - There was still no improvement seen on the import trading of lead concentrate on the Chinese market in the first half of July, due to the high prices of lead concentrate on the overseas market.
A source from a Guangxi-based trading company reported that the import market for lead concentrate has been quiet for almost one year, as there was no profit for Chinese buyers to import the material, though the supply of the material remained restricted on the Chinese market. “The treatment charges for lead concentrate 50%min prevailed at USD140-150/t CIF China in July, unchanged compared with that in June,” said the source. “Lead ingot prices have climbed up to over USD2,200/t on the LME this month, so the prices of imported lead concentrate are around RMB500/metal tonne (USD82/metal tonne) higher than that of the material supplied by Chinese suppliers.”
The trader is watching the market and may start some trading about low grade lead ore in the future.
A source from a Beijing-based trading company confirmed that the lead concentrate import trading remained very subdued, due to the high prices of the imported material. “As lead concentrate supply was very limited on the Chinese market, many lead smelters had to purchase the material with high price and already suffered a great loss,” said the source. “Therefore, they cannot accept higher prices to buy the imported material. Impacted by shortage of lead concentrate supply, some lead smelter ran with low operation rates during the past months.”
The source put the prevailing treatment charges for lead concentrate 50%min at USD130-150/t CIF China, but few deals were concluded in the past two months.
Lead Conc. TC 50%min CIF China
Unit:USD/mt
China lead concentrate producers' output statistics by province by month
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