SMM Secondary Lead-acid Battery Summit: Supplies of raw materials to continue growth

ZHUHAI, Sep 14 (SMM) – The volume of China’s lead-acid battery scrap, a major raw material in secondary lead production, will rise further with the growing number of vehicles in China, chairman of China Industrial Alliance of Renewable Energy (CIAR), Li Shilong, said. 

CIAR data showed that the volume of lead-acid battery scrap reached 8 million mt last year. Such raw materials could only be procured domestically, as imports of the high-polluting product is banned, he told delegates at the SMM Secondary Lead-Acid Battery Summit on Friday September 14 in Zhuhai, Guangdong province.

China produced some 2.6 million mt of secondary lead in 2017, with production from secondary plants accounting for some 2 million mt, Li said. Both figures grew significantly from 2016.

In 2017, China’s auto sales stood at 28.81 million units, motorcycle sales at 17.1 million units, and production of electric bicycle at 33.2 million units. By the end 2017, there were 300 million motor vehicles in China, of which 200 million were cars. There were 260 million electric bicycles and 60 million electric tricycles. Domestic output of lead-acid batteries reached 210 million kVA last year, showed data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). 

China’s lead consumption will be increasingly bolstered by the use of secondary lead as global lead ore resources shrink, he said. Growing demand for lead-acid batteries, especially from transportation, manufacturing, communications, aviation, and new energy, further improved the outlook on the secondary lead market. 

But secondary producers continue to be plagued by environmental woes and heavy taxes, according to Li. They also face stiff competition in procuring raw materials as some plants recycled scrap at low prices. Li concluded by calling upon local and central authorities to intensify supervision on such practices.