Lead-Acid Battery Consumption Sluggish Before New Year, Producers Cut Production During New Year's Holiday [SMM Weekly Review on Lead-Acid Battery Operating Rates]

        SMM January 3 News: According to , the weekly comprehensive operating rate of lead-acid battery enterprises in five provinces monitored by SMM was 73.13% during December 28, 2024–January 3, 2025, pulling back by 1.58 percentage points WoW.

        Entering January, the lead-acid battery market officially stepped into the Chinese New Year month. According to past practices, lead-acid battery dealers generally stockpile batteries relatively intensively before the Chinese New Year due to the suspension of logistics during the holiday. However, the market performed mildly this year. Recently, lead prices have fluctuated significantly and remained in a downward trend, making dealers cautious about pre-holiday purchases. Meanwhile, this winter's temperatures have been relatively mild. In previous years, winter was the peak season for replacing automotive batteries, but current end-use consumption has instead pulled back. Therefore, the operating rate of lead-acid battery enterprises pulled back WoW this week due to two main reasons: year-end factory inventory checks and holidays (New Year's holiday), and weak enterprise orders leading to proactive production cuts.