Higher Tax Squeezes Profits at China Lead-acid Battery Producers, SMM Reports

[SMM Lead Morning Meeting Minutes: Bullish and Bearish Factors Coexisted in Domestic and Overseas Markets; Lead Prices Were Expected to Remain Consolidated] US Treasury Secretary Bessent: A 15% global tariff might be implemented this week, pledged to safeguard the Persian Gulf, and hinted that more measures were forthcoming. Recently, lead-acid battery enterprises in the domestic market basically resumed production, and the overall operating rate in March rebounded sharply from February…

It was reported that during this year’s Two Sessions, NPC deputy Liu Changhai, Chairman of Camel Group, proposed expanding the scope of application of the Regulation on Ensuring Payment to Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises from small and medium-sized suppliers in the supply chains of large enterprises (mainly 17 key automakers) to above-designated-size enterprises in the automotive industry, thereby creating a “hard constraint on payment terms across the entire industry.” He also proposed clearly defining “completion of goods delivery and acceptance” as the period start point, and strictly prohibiting the disguised extension of payment terms through measures such as deliberately delaying acceptance and the non-compliant use of commercial bills of exchange.

[Lead-Acid Battery Market Update] It was reported that during this year’s Two Sessions, Zhang Tianren, a deputy to the National People’s Congress and Chairman of Tianneng Holding Group, proposed that relevant national ministries and commissions leverage big data to monitor nationwide battery capacity, production, utilization rate, and market demand, and regularly release an overcapacity early-warning index to clearly restrict outdated technologies and inefficient capacity. He also proposed raising market entry thresholds for battery production and recycling, shifting from a “licensing” system to a national ministry “filing” system, further revising the “Standard Conditions for the Battery Industry,” and prohibiting low-level capacity from entering the market.