Weekly lead-acid battery maker operating rate dipped 0.2 percentage point

SHANGHAI, Dec 6 (SMM) – Operating rates across lead-acid battery producers in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hebei provinces dipped 0.2 percentage point from the previous week to an average rate of 57.56% in the week ended December 6, showed SMM data.

With falling lead prices boosting risk aversion sentiment and deterring distributors from stockpiling batteries, lead-acid battery producers scaled back operations this week and continued to conduct sales promotions to control their inventories of finished goods.

Meanwhile, bearishness around electric-bike batteries prompted some producers to seek to shift to other products, which also led to lower operating rates this week.

With the year drawing to a close, the rush of medium-scale and large battery producers to fulfill annual production targets appeared to be moderate this year, failing to prevent the average operating rate from falling.