September 22 Scrap Battery Market Transaction Summary [SMM Daily Review]

SMM, September 22:

Mainstream quotations for waste lead-acid batteries in China held steady today, with only a few smelters slightly raising their purchase prices, while recycler buying prices remained broadly stable overall. Smelter raw material arrivals have shifted from the pulsed peak seen early last week to a steady pace, down roughly 40-50% WoW from the early-week peak. On one hand, as lead prices rose, suppliers shifted from selling to holding back from selling. On the other hand, after a batch of concentrated shipments last week, available scrap battery supply in the market is itself relatively thin, and arrivals at plants pulled back accordingly. For smelters, with raw materials having arrived in concentrated volumes earlier and inventories replenished, there is little urgency to raise prices to secure cargoes in the short term. Sentiment among recyclers is split: half still maintain a fast-in, fast-out approach with no inventory retention, while the other half have turned to holding back from selling and waiting for further price increases from smelters, leaving quotations broadly stable with a strong wait-and-see sentiment. Scrap battery prices are expected to stabilize at highs in the short term alongside lead prices, with occasional follow-through gains, but smelter raw material inventories are relatively ample and the pace of follow-through increases is likely to be slow. Attention should be paid to the sustainability of the lead price rebound, smelters' pricing moves after inventories are digested, and the release of supply as suppliers hold back from selling.