Against the Backdrop of the Off-Season, Post-Holiday Production Recovery of Lead-Acid Battery Enterprises Remained Limited [SMM Lead-Acid Battery Weekly Operating Rate Comment]

According to SMM, from April 10 to April 16, 2026, the weekly comprehensive operating rate of lead-acid battery enterprises across five provinces was 69.66%, up 2.38 percentage points WoW.

With the impact of the Qingming Festival holiday dissipating, lead-acid battery enterprises gradually resumed production this week. However, as the end-use market was in the traditional consumption off-season, battery orders at some enterprises weakened, and they once again lowered their production line operating rates. Therefore, the weekly operating rate of lead-acid batteries recovered somewhat this week but remained difficult to restore to pre-holiday levels. Currently, battery markets for e-bikes, automobiles, and other sectors are all in the off-season, with dealers purchasing cautiously. To ease inventory pressure, most producers adopted a produce-based-on-sales approach and scaled back production plans. If orders continue to remain sluggish going forward, some enterprises will consider further production cuts.