Weekly operating rates at lead-acid battery makers drop on holiday

SHANGHAI, Sep 12 (SMM) –Operating rates across China’s lead-acid battery producers this week were lower on the back of lesser working days due to the Mid-Autumn festival holiday, despite overall operation remaining stable. Battery producers planned to take a break up to two days during the holiday weekend. 

An SMM survey showed that the average operating rate across lead-acid battery mills in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei, and Hebei provinces fell 2.14 percentage points from the previous week, to 52.08% in the week to Thursday September 12.

Expectations of potential output curbs in the run-up to the National Day parade in October drove some battery plants in Hebei province to reserve finished products in August and cut their output targets for this month. SMM expects production across battery mills to return to normal next week after the holiday.