SMM December 12:
The operating rate for secondary lead smelters in four provinces was 45.36% during December 5-11, 2025, down 3.01 percentage points WoW. Production at secondary lead smelters in Anhui province remained stable, with the operating rate flat WoW. Production changes at smelters in Henan and Jiangsu were relatively small, with only a few small smelters suspending production briefly due to environmental protection factors, impacting production by less than 500 mt. The operating rate in Inner Mongolia dropped 25.71 percentage points to 57.71% WoW. Local large smelters reported poor arrivals of waste lead-acid batteries, with raw material inventory declining significantly, leading to production cuts; small smelters suspended production due to equipment replacement, with normal operations expected to resume next week. Temperatures fell significantly in north China, reducing the retirement of lead-acid batteries from e-bikes. Until the overall retirement of automotive lead-acid batteries shows clear improvement, raw material supply is expected to continue limiting any rise in the operating rate of secondary lead smelters.
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