China will become a net exporter of refined lead in 2020 as a result of higher forecasted production and unimproved domestic consumption next year, a senior analyst said at the 2019 Lead & Zinc Week gathering in Kunming, China, on Thursday October 17.
Chinese lead smelters are likely to increase production to take advantage of good profits for lead smelting due to higher treatment charges (TCs) for lead concentrates and sufficient supply for recycled lead-acid batteries, Antaike senior analyst Zhiwei Zhang told delegates at the event last week. China produced 3.41 million tonnes of refined lead in January-September 2019, of which 1.88 million tonnes was primary lead while secondary material accounted for 1.53 million tonnes, according to Antaike statistics. Chinese imports of refined lead totaled 81,018 tonnes over January-August, compared with exports of 2,849 tonnes in the same period. "China has been a net importer of refined lead for years and we see opportunities for China to export cargoes in 2020 when increases in domestic...