September 8 Scrap Battery Market Transaction Summary [SMM Daily Review]

SMM, September 8:

Mainstream quotations for China's waste lead-acid battery market remained stable today, with only a few smelters making minor adjustments to their purchase prices in mixed directions. Among surveyed enterprises, about 70% of recyclers lowered their purchase prices for waste e-bike batteries by 50-100 yuan/mt, while quotations for water batteries were largely flat. The pullback in lead prices triggered panic selling among store-based suppliers, with willingness to sell warming up, but recyclers, wary of "buying high and selling low," pushed for lower prices and purchased cautiously, reporting that front-end procurement became more difficult after price reductions. Raw material arrivals at smelters were generally stable, with some smelters in central China seeing better arrivals driven by the approaching deadline of price protection. Downstream battery enterprises maintained just-in-time demand, purchasing mainly on an as-needed basis and through long-term contracts. In the short term, scrap battery prices are expected to remain stable and move sideways, with attention needed on whether SHFE lead holds the 16,000 yuan/mt level, the pace of lead price stabilization, and changes in recyclers' selling sentiment.