The Traditional Consumption Off-Season Is Approaching, Lead-Acid Battery Enterprises Maintain Produce Based on Sales [SMM Weekly Operating Rate Comment on Lead-Acid Batteries]

It was learned that the weekly composite operating rate of SMM lead-acid battery enterprises across five provinces was 73.92% from March 20 to March 26, 2026, basically stable WoW.

As it was late March, aside from some large lead-acid battery enterprises reporting moderate orders and production line operating rates at full capacity, other small and medium-sized enterprises said that the traditional consumption off-season from April to May was approaching, and producers mainly produced based on sales. At present, the SHFE/LME price ratio for lead remained high, and lead-acid battery costs were higher than those in markets outside China. Coupled with constraints from tariffs, geopolitics, and other factors, orders for export-oriented enterprises in particular were hindered, leaving factory production lines underutilized. If subsequent orders continued to weaken, operating rates would be lowered again.