Japan Official Lead Price Hits Record 273,000 yen/t

Mitsubishi Materials announced on Tuesday the firm revised up the official lead ingot price by 3,000 yen to 273,000 yen per tonne for domestic shipment in March. The official price hit record to reflect upsurge of lead price at London Metal Exchange due to low inventory. The monthly average increased by 1,100 yen to 268,100 yen per tonne.LME lead settlement price sharply increased by US$ 51 to US$ 1,963 per tonne on Monday from Friday. LME nonferrous metal prices are wholly strong and the lead price seems to approach US$ 2,000 again after the end of February.Lead market is strong due to operational accidents at lead mines and smelters in Australia, especially when UK smelter is still under Force Majeure by a tunnel accident in Mount Isa mine. LME lead price was scarcely impacted by restart of Magellan Mine, which had stopped shipment due to environmental problems.Lead inventory held by LME is at the lowest level in recent 2 years at 30,000-35,000 tonnes.