Weekly operating rates at lead-acid battery makers rise 0.87 percentage point

SHANGHAI, Sep 6 (SMM) – Lead-acid battery producers in China ramped up operations in the first week of September, as some recovered from technical upgrading or stockpiled.

An SMM survey showed that the average operating rate across lead-acid battery producers in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei, and Hebei provinces climbed 0.87 percentage point from the previous week, to 54.22% in the week ended Friday September 6.

The rate has risen for six weeks in the past seven weeks.

Battery producers upgraded their facilities this year, as the new national guidelines for electric bikes, effective from the middle of April, aim to push battery lightweighting. Some plants completed the upgrading and recovered production this month.

A few producers of batteries used in communication stepped up production this week, as potential labour mobility in the forthcoming breaks, including the Mid-Autumn Festival, the National Day and Chinese New Year holidays, will affect their operations.

The growth in battery production, however, was moderate this week, as some producers began to rein in production as orders weakened with the peak season for e-bike batteries drawing to a close.