SHANGHAI, Apr 17 (SMM) – Operating rates across Chinese lead-acid battery plants continued to decline this week, as a traditional low season arrived and COVID-19 knocked foreign demand.
An SMM survey showed that operating rate across lead-acid battery producers in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hebei provinces averaged 62.74% in the week ended April 17, down 0.73 percentage point from last week.
Demand for electric bike batteries failed to pick up as expected in the back-to-school season and now has entered a traditional low season.
It is also a low season for batteries used in automobiles. That, coupled with foreign demand losses caused by COVID-19, forced some storage battery producers to scale back operations.
Exports of communication batteries have also taken a hit from the pandemic, and some Chinese producers have trimmed output by 20-30%.
![Geopolitical Tensions Eased, LME Lead Jumped to a Nearly Half-Month High [SMM Lead Morning Brief]](https://imgqn.smm.cn/usercenter/lIHfM20251217171721.jpeg)
![Macro Tailwinds Boosted Lead Prices; Follow-Up Attention on Fundamental Alignment [SMM Lead Morning Meeting Minutes]](https://imgqn.smm.cn/usercenter/XMxKT20251217171720.jpeg)
![Driven by increased long positions, the most-traded SHFE lead 2605 contract showed a unilateral upward trend today [Brief Review of Lead Futures]](https://imgqn.smm.cn/usercenter/rDPju20251217171722.jpg)
