The three-month lead price on the London Metal Exchange was the standout performer during morning trading on Thursday June 25, supported by a continued trend of stock withdrawals, while a steady incline in LME tin stocks softened the metal's wide backwardation.
Lead's outright price on the LME was recently at $1,778.50 per tonne, climbing by just under 1% from Wednesday's closing price of $1,762 per tonne, while turnover was thin at just under 700 lots exchanged by 10am London time. Prompting the higher lead price was a fresh outflow of 1,175 tonnes, with the bulk of removals coming out of Rotterdam warehouses. Total LME on-warrant lead stocks have fallen to 45,625 tonnes so far this month from 59,150 tonnes. But many market participants said persistent lead withdrawals are not destined for genuine consumption,...