Japan Official Lead Price Decreases Again in April

Mitsubishi Materials announced on Monday it decreased the official lead ingot price by 3,000 yen to 179,000 yen per tonne for domestic shipment in April. The price was revised down again after the revision on April 3 and decreased to below 180,000 yen for the first time since January 11, 2006.Lead settlement price at London Metal Exchange (LME) increased by US$ 11.5 to US$ 1,166.5 per tonne on Friday from the previous day, following the sharp rise of LME copper price. However, the price was US$ 43.5 cheaper than US$ 1,210 on March 29, on which the Japanese smelter decreased the official price last time.