Lead-acid Battery Enterprises and Dealers Had Limited Stockpiling Before the Year and Intended to Take an Early Holiday [SMM Lead-Acid Battery Market Weekly Review]

        During the year-end period, end-use consumption in the lead-acid battery market remained sluggish, and dealers' battery inventory digestion was slow, with some dealers holding 1-2 months of inventory. They are not expected to make additional stockpiling plans before the Chinese New Year. In addition, recent lead price fluctuations have been significant, and there have been rumors of price increases in the wholesale battery market. However, actual selling prices have not changed much; for example, the main model of e-bike lead-acid battery, 48V20Ah, is priced at 380-400 yuan per set. As a result, dealers are being cautious about stockpiling before the New Year and are only making just-in-time procurement. On the producer side, due to weak finished product orders, lead-acid battery enterprises have high finished product inventories, and many intend to take early holidays. Their conventional stockpiling of lead ingots is also quite limited, leading to sluggish trading in the spot market for lead.