SHANGHAI, Mar 22 (SMM) - The average operating rate across lead-acid battery producers in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hebei provinces stood at 72.61% last week (March 11-March 17), down 0.2 percentage point on the week. According to the research, as the weather gets warmer in mid and late-March, the replacement demand for e-bike and car battery has gradually decreased. Some traders reported that their sales of battery in March fell by nearly half compared with February, and the battery wholesalers have also started to carry out promotions. But at the same time, the consumption of automobile was acceptable, especially in provinces and cities that are eliminating electric bicycles exceeding the standard. And many provinces, represented by Hubei, and cities have released favourable policies to drive up the orders of lead-acid battery enterprises. As such, the production of medium and large-sized enterprises remained stable and the weekly operating rate of lead-acid battery only dropped slightly.