Lead price decline stimulates downstream procurement, while the end-user market remains in the off-season [SMM Lead-Acid Battery Market Weekly Review]

       Entering July, end-use consumption in the e-bike and automotive battery markets remained weak. Notably, after multiple battery enterprises ran sales promotions and price cuts in June, dealer battery inventories were generally high and purchasing power declined. Some enterprises indicated that orders weakened further in early July. In the battery wholesale market, some dealers plan to stop promotions and have started to announce price increase plans—for instance, the price of e-bike lead-acid batteries is expected to rise by 20-30 yuan per unit. In addition, lead prices fell this week, prompting producers to seize the opportunity to stockpile at low prices. However, due to the off-season, actual purchases were relatively cautious and mostly dependent on order situations, leading to improved trading activity in the spot market.