ILZSG: World Lead Market Ended in Deficit

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest edition of the monthly ‘Lead and Zinc Statistics Bulletin’ published by the International Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG) suggests that global market for refined lead metal ended in deficit during the first half of the current year, when compared with the corresponding period a year before.

According to provisional data released by ILZSG, world lead metal demand exceeded supply, thereby pushing the market to a deficit of 65,000 tonnes during the initial six-month period in 2019. The total reported lead stock levels declined by 24,000 tonnes during this period.

The global lead mine production increased marginally by 0.9% from January to June in 2019. The rise in mine output was primarily due to higher output reported by the European region, India and Peru. On the other hand, the mine production recorded decline in China. The lead mine output totaled 2.296 million tonnes in H1 2019.

The refined lead metal production during this period surged higher modestly by 1.8% to total 5.740 million tonnes. The production reported decline in Argentina, Kazakhstan and Japan. Meantime, China, Korea, India, Italy, Mexico and the U.S. recorded higher output levels over the previous year.

The global lead metal usage rose by 2.3% year-on-year to total 5.805 million tonnes, mainly on account of rises in China and India. The usage remained flat in Europe and Korea. The metal usage reported decline in Japan and the U.S. in Jan-June ’19 by 2.7% and 5.6% respectively, ILZSG data said.

The ILZSG monthly statistics suggest that monthly global lead mine output totaled 373.5 kt in June this year. The global refined lead metal production totaled 928.9 kt, whereas global lead metal usage totaled 935.1 kt during the month.