[Lead Market Dynamics] On August 7, 2026, China Tower launched its 2026 nationwide centralized procurement tender for valve-regulated sealed lead-acid batteries, with a total procurement scale of 2,214.72 MWh. The tender covers three types of telecom batteries: 2V standard, 12V standard, and 12V front-terminal. The project will award contracts to up to four winning bidders and sets a maximum price per watt-hour. Only original manufacturers with cumulative sales revenue from valve-regulated sealed lead-acid battery products of at least 100 million yuan (tax inclusive) over the past three years are eligible to bid. The deadline for bid document submission is August 14. The lead-acid battery market for telecom backup power has ushered in an annual large-scale procurement opportunity.

In recent years, China's lithium battery industry, leveraging mature technology systems and well-established industry chain support, has long underpinned the rapid development of the new energy industry in China and even globally, serving as the mainstay of the current energy storage and power battery markets. To further optimize the battery industry structure and diversify new-type battery technology pathways, relevant new policies in China have recently clarified that battery consumption tax will be levied on lithium batteries in phases, while sodium-ion batteries will be exempt from the battery consumption tax from September 1 this year through the end of 2028, in order to further cultivate the sodium-ion battery industry, which is still in its early growth stage. The 2%–4% tax rate differential over 28 months creates a critical window of opportunity to accelerate the large-scale deployment and commercialization of sodium-ion batteries.

In 2026, the global lead-acid battery industry maintains steady growth, holding irreplaceable advantages in starting, industrial, and energy storage applications. Secondary lead has become the core raw material supply, and green recycling and compliant manufacturing have become the industry baseline. The global industry chain is accelerating its shift to Southeast Asia, where Vietnam, leveraging its motorcycle and automobile ownership, manufacturing supporting facilities, and trade facilitation advantages, has become a strategic hub for lead smelting, battery production, and recycling. Meanwhile, the lead industry chain faces multiple challenges such as raw material supply-demand balance, international trade compliance, upgrading environmental standards, iteration of advanced lead battery technologies, supply chain security, and cost control. To build a global lead industry exchange and cooperation platform and promote collaborative innovation across the entire chain of lead ore, primary lead, secondary lead, lead-acid batteries, equipment, and auxiliary materials, the 2026 SMM Global Lead-Acid Battery Supply Chain Innovation Conference is set to take place in Ho Chi Minh City. SMM, in partnership with Hunan Ruiyi Resources and Environment Technology Co., Ltd. , invites you to join the conference. The event will focus on industrial policies, market trends, technological upgrades, circular economy, and the joint development of the global supply chain, helping enterprises seize opportunities and achieve win-win collaboration. Click to register now for the conference, and join us in witnessing and participating in this extraordinary and far-reaching industry event, creating a brilliant new chapter together! Hunan Ruiyi Resources and Environment Technology Co., Ltd. is an "industry-academia-research-application" cooperation partner of Central South University. Relying on the Institute of Resource Recycling and Environmental Engineering of Central South University, the company primarily engages in technology development and transformation, technical consulting services, process and plant design, equipment manufacturing, and engineering contracting in fields such as clean and efficient utilization of secondary non-ferrous metal resources, comprehensive recovery and safe disposal of heavy metal and arsenic-containing hazardous waste, and extraction. The company focuses on technology R&D and promotion in the hazardous waste disposal industry. With side-blown furnaces, pure oxygen converters, low-temperature pyrolysis furnaces, electric furnaces, and fuming furnaces as core equipment, it enhances metal recovery rates, saves energy, and reduces emissions in the secondary lead recycling industry, the comprehensive recovery and safe disposal of copper scrap, the vitrification of fly ash and residues from municipal solid waste and hazardous waste incineration, and the comprehensive recovery and safe disposal of heavy metal and arsenic-containing hazardous waste, thereby meeting the growing needs of clients; the company has an R&D and design engineering team centered on professors and senior engineers, bringing together talented professionals from metallurgical production and management, environmental protection, plant design, mechanical manufacturing, automation, electrical engineering, and other fields. It possesses full-chain service capabilities from technical consulting to furnace operation in the areas of secondary lead, copper scrap recycling, secondary zinc, and arsenic-containing hazardous waste disposal. In the R&D and manufacturing of side-blown furnaces and the aforementioned resource recycling fields, it holds over 90 invention patents and utility model patents. RE Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as RE TECH) is a cooperative high-techcompany (industry-institute-research) affiliated with Central South University, whose metallurgy department is one of the most prestigious in the world. With independent patented oxygen-enriched side-blowing furnace as the core equipment which have widely applied in lead recvcling industry and have won a lot of awards because of its innovative technology, we also have the ability to design the entire plant, and design and fabricate the essential equipment including side-blowing furnace, rotary furnace, blast furnace, convert, electrical furnace, fuming furnace and other equipment. In our role as the leading engineering company in lead recycling, we continue to invest in upgrading equipment and processes to meet the ever-increasing requirement of the industry, including improving metal recovery rates, reducing emissions, and treating materials more efficiently. We are expanding our field from lead to copper, nickel,zinc, tin, antimoney etc. to ensure that nonferrous secondary resources are reused efficiently and cleanly, heavy metals and arsenic-containing hazardouswastes are reecovered and disposed safely. Professors, experts and engineers make up the RE TECH team, whose majors include metallurgy, environmental protection, mechanical, automation, electrical and otherdisciplines. With more than 90 patents, the team is capable of providing consulting, engineering, equipment fabrication, installation, commissioning, and operation services to our respected clients. Contact Tel: 0731-82850226 Email: info@rezh.net Website: http//www.hnrezh.com Address: No. 19 Ziyuan Road, Yuelu District, Changsha, Hunan Province Long press and scan to register now 2026 SMM Global Lead-Acid Battery Supply Chain Industry Conference

SMM, July 28: Dealers in Jiangxi report that end-use consumption in the e-bike lead-acid battery market has yet to pick up, retailers only purchase as needed, and the battery wholesale market maintains sales promotions. Currently, the wholesale price for the main model, 48V20Ah, is 380 yuan per group. Manufacturers in Zhejiang report that market demand for e-bike lead-acid batteries is weak, orders for finished products are poor, and coupled with the impact of hot weather, factories are currently shut down and are expected to resume production next week. Manufacturers in Jiangsu report that the traditional peak season for the e-bike lead-acid battery market has shown no clear signs yet, dealer purchasing enthusiasm is low, and to avoid inventory buildup, the factory operating rate is maintained at 60-70%, with raw material lead purchased only as needed.

Malaysia's battery collection company BateriHub has signed an MoU with licensed recycler MNA Metal Resources to strengthen the collection and recycling of used automotive lead-acid batteries. The partnership aims to ensure scrap batteries are processed through licensed and traceable recycling channels, enhancing transparency across Malaysia's battery recycling chain. Over the past three years, BateriHub and Global Energy Battery have collected approximately 280,000 used batteries for formal recycling.

[Market Dynamics of Waste Lead-Acid Batteries] A fire broke out at night recently in an industrial park in Shanghai, damaging two factory buildings. After the fire was extinguished, relevant authorities launched a traceability investigation of the accident, and all enterprises in the park were placed under listed supervision. The operations of a waste lead-acid battery recycling enterprise in the park were forced to suspend. Its daily recycling capacity is about 30 mt, and it is estimated that operations will not resume until September.

[SMM Lead Morning Brief: Short-term China inventory buildup expectations may cause lead prices to consolidate on a subdued note] On Friday, reports indicated that Pakistan was exploring paths to restart US-Iran negotiations; Trump stated that the US is negotiating with Iran. As August approaches, the market has expectations for the traditional peak season for lead-acid batteries, but current actual consumption is less than satisfactory...

Next week, key macroeconomic data will include the US June core PCE price index y/y, the US July University of Michigan consumer sentiment index final reading, and China's July official manufacturing PMI, with the major event being the US Fed FOMC interest rate decision. With only a few days until the Fed meeting, the market remains deeply divided over whether the Fed will hike rates this month, a situation rarely seen in recent years. The market widely expects a high probability that the Fed will keep rates unchanged, though attention still needs to be paid to the policy signals from the meeting and the post-meeting statement. Meanwhile, the US reimposition of reciprocal tariffs and the escalating US-Iran conflict, together with rising energy costs such as crude oil, have heightened market concerns over the global economic outlook. LME lead side, after a surge in LME lead inventory outside China the previous week, LME lead cancelled warrants increased significantly this week, up nearly 30,000 mt WoW. Geopolitical tensions outside China, rising crude oil prices, and shipping constraints have pushed up lead prices from the cost side. At the same time, expectations of lead consumption growth in the Southeast Asian market persist, which will provide some support for the lead market, but high lead ingot inventory pressure will still limit the upside room for lead prices. Next week, LME lead is expected to trade at $1,875-1,935/mt. SHFE lead side, as August approaches, the market has expectations for the traditional peak season for lead-acid batteries, but actual consumption so far has been disappointing. While smelter production has been steady to slightly higher, lead ingot inventory faces further accumulation pressure. Currently, lead ingot inventory is mainly concentrated at smelter warehouses. Going forward, attention should be paid to the potential shift from invisible to visible inventory, which could continue to weigh on lead prices. Next week, the most-traded SHFE lead contract is expected to trade at 15,550-15,950 yuan/mt. Spot lead price forecast: 15,500-15,750 yuan/mt. Consumption side, demand in the lead-acid battery market remains weak. Downstream enterprises remain cautious in procurement, with just-in-time procurement still dominant. Supply side, primary and secondary lead smelters are seeing mixed production adjustments. Spot market supply is ample, and spot cargoes are generally trading at a discount. With new monthly long-term contracts set to begin execution next week, the spot market discount structure may be hard to improve significantly.

[Vietnam Lead Market Update] Since the beginning of this year, new lead-acid battery capacity in Vietnam has been successively commissioned. Coupled with the ongoing policy promoting the switch from motorcycles to e-bikes and rising oil prices, local demand for lead-acid batteries used in e-bikes and other applications has grown rapidly, and production lines at battery producers are generally running at full capacity. Some producers say their lead consumption has doubled compared to the same period last year, with a few enterprises even reaching three times last year’s level.

It is learned that from July 10 to July 16, 2026, the SMM weekly comprehensive operating rate of lead-acid battery enterprises in five provinces was 63.26%, down 0.7 percentage points WoW. As of mid-to-late July, consumption in the end-use market of lead-acid batteries had not improved significantly, and battery enterprises continued to produce based on sales. Moreover, with increasing high-temperature weather recently, some enterprises intended to take holidays and cut production, or adjusted their working hour systems. This week, the weekly operating rate of lead-acid battery enterprises continued its downtrend. Currently, the e-bike and automotive battery markets were the main weak consumption segments; dealers were cautious in procurement, and lead-acid battery enterprises' production enthusiasm was also limited.