[SMM Analysis] A First Look at the 2026 Chinese New Year Holiday Shutdown Plan for China's Secondary Lead Smelters (First Edition)

SMM January 23, 2026 News:

The SMM secondary lead weekly operating rate in four provinces was 50.26% during January 16-22, 2026, down 0.12 percentage points WoW.

Anhui's secondary lead operating rate rose by over 9 percentage points, mainly due to a local smelter resuming production after successfully renewing its hazardous waste operation license. Henan's smelter operating rate fell by more than 3 percentage points, primarily because blizzard conditions affected raw material arrivals and environmental protection-related controls limited production. Jiangsu's operating rate increased slightly, as local enterprises reported higher long-term contract delivery tasks and production increases due to downstream pre-holiday stockpiling. Inner Mongolia saw new smelter halts this week, causing the regional operating rate to plunge by 46.29 percentage points.

Downstream battery producers showed modest willingness to stockpile before the Chinese New Year, while finished product inventory pressure at secondary lead smelters persisted. Meanwhile, high waste lead-acid battery prices kept smelters' cost pressure unresolved. Loss-making conditions dampened secondary lead smelters' production enthusiasm, with most enterprises having formulated holiday plans. According to SMM, some secondary lead enterprises scheduled holidays about 5 days earlier YoY.

Lead smelting enterprises in Henan generally maintained normal production during the Chinese New Year break, with only a few small smelters planning closures. Few smelters in east China had confirmed holiday plans; some indicated they would wait for market developments before deciding, while a small portion confirmed no breaks. Additionally, after the Chinese New Year break, temperatures in north China remained low, leading to high energy costs for maintaining normal furnace temperatures. Due to temperature constraints, smelters in northern areas (eastern Inner Mongolia, northern Xinjiang, etc.) concentrated production resumption windows from mid-March to April.

As most secondary lead smelters' Chinese New Year break plans were still being finalized, SMM will update the second version of the holiday plan notice by February 6. Stay tuned!