Recently, end-use consumption in the lead-acid battery market remained relatively stable, with dealers basically purchasing as needed. Meanwhile, lead prices fluctuated downward, and some dealers were concerned that battery selling prices would follow the decline. In addition, as April to May is the traditional consumption off-season, dealers were also relatively cautious in procurement, and lead-acid battery enterprises produced based on sales. In terms of lead ingot procurement, spot cargo circulating in the lead market is currently relatively ample, and downstream enterprises purchased as needed. It was not until the second half of the week, when lead prices fell further, that some enterprises restocked at lower prices as needed, and trading activity in the spot market improved.

SMM News, Mar 13: This week, the recycling volume of waste lead-acid battery recyclers rebounded significantly WoW, with the recycling volume of some recyclers rising 40% from the initial stage of work resumption. However, affected by downstream consumption not yet having fully recovered and a relatively low volume of retired scrap battery, some enterprises still saw recycling volume that had not returned to pre-holiday levels. As secondary lead smelters resumed work at a relatively slow pace and demand for scrap battery had not yet surged, SMM expected the purchase prices of waste lead-acid battery to stabilize next week. Domestic secondary crude lead smelters posted a poor operating rate, with some enterprises suspending production due to environmental protection-related controls. Suppliers held firm offers, and the current mainstream ex-factory prices excluding tax stood at 15,250-15,400 yuan/mt. If containing some antimony and tin metals, ex-factory offers were at least 15,500 yuan/mt. At present, imported lead supply was ample, and suppliers had relatively weak bargaining power, giving downstream enterprises near ports a greater advantage in purchases. SMM expected domestic secondary crude lead supply to remain tight in the short term, with imports serving as the main supplement. » Subscribe to View Historical SMM Metal Spot Prices

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It was learned that the weekly composite operating rate of lead-acid battery enterprises across five provinces tracked by SMM stood at 73.45% from March 6 to March 12, 2026, up 1.78 percentage points WoW from the previous week. In March, major lead-acid battery enterprises basically resumed normal production. The last batch of enterprises that resumed work in early March also recently completed production ramp-up on their production lines, with operating rates of 80-100% at medium and large enterprises and 50-80% at small enterprises. At present, most orders for e-bike and automotive battery enterprises came from dealers' routine post-Chinese New Year restocking, but actual improvement in end-use market consumption remained limited. Among them, battery exports were affected by factors such as tariffs, the SHFE/LME price ratio, and transportation, and export-oriented enterprises saw weak order performance. In addition, orders for ESS battery enterprises were moderate, especially tender orders from data centers, and the production lines of such enterprises were operating at full capacity.

SMM News, March 13: This week, finished product inventories of secondary lead destocked significantly, standing at 26,600 mt as of March 12, down 13,100 mt from March 5. The main reasons were: the resumption progress of secondary lead smelters was slow, raw material inventories at downstream battery enterprises were depleted, and demand for cargo pick-up under long-term contracts increased. In addition, starting next week, the release of capacity at two large smelters in east China will somewhat ease the tight regional supply of secondary lead; however, as high raw material prices led suppliers of secondary lead to hold prices firm, downstream purchase willingness for spot orders remained weak. Secondary lead finished product inventories are expected to return to a supply-demand balance level next week, with a lower probability of unilateral wild swings. 》Subscribe to View Historical SMM Metal Spot Prices

SMM News, March 13: This week, mainstream tax-inclusive ex-factory prices for secondary lead were at parity against the SMM #1 lead average price, with discounts of 50-100 yuan/mt in some areas; dragged down by scrap battery prices and weak downstream consumption, the industry remained loss-making, and most smelters held prices firm and were reluctant to sell. As of March 13, 2026, the theoretical comprehensive profit and loss for large-scale enterprises was -422 yuan/mt, and that for small and medium-sized enterprises was -633 yuan/mt (the model’s by-product revenue did not include tin or antimony). With delivery to be completed and rigid demand expected to recover next week, SMM expected discounts for secondary lead to narrow slightly. Overall, losses across China’s secondary lead industry remained unchanged and production resumptions were slow. Given the availability of primary lead and imported lead cargoes, premiums for spot orders of secondary refined lead were likely to maintain sideways movement, making substantial premiums difficult to emerge. > Subscribe to View Historical SMM Metal Spot Prices

Next week, the US Fed will announce its interest rate decision and Summary of Economic Projections, and the market widely expects rates to remain unchanged. On the macro data front, key releases will include China's total retail sales YoY from January to February, China's industrial value-added of enterprises above designated size YoY from January to February, and the US February PPI YoY. In addition, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will lead a delegation to France from March 14 to 17 for economic and trade consultations with the US side. LME lead, markets outside China continue to be affected by developments in the Middle East, including rising natural gas prices and hindered battery transportation, constraining both the supply and demand sides of lead. Meanwhile, China's lead ingot import window opened further, attracting overseas lead ingots into the Chinese market. In Southeast Asia, for example, spot lead circulation declined and premiums rose, which may provide some support for lead prices. LME lead is expected to trade at $1,900-1,960/mt next week. SHFE lead, as the SHFE lead 2603 contract nears delivery, suppliers have been shifting inventory and shipping to delivery warehouse, leading to a continued increase in visible lead ingot inventory. Together with growing arrivals of imported lead, this dragged the overall price center lower. At the same time, losses in secondary lead widened, and many smelters cut production or postponed the resumption of operations, while smelters' in-factory inventory declined. In the short term, bullish and bearish factors are intertwined. After the bearish impact of inventory buildup from delivery warehouse shipments is fully absorbed, attention should be paid to the possibility of lead prices stabilizing. The most-traded SHFE lead contract is expected to trade at 16,400-16,850 yuan/mt next week. Spot price forecast: 16,350-16,650 yuan/mt. On the consumption side, downstream enterprises maintained stable production, and as lead prices fell, producers will gradually buy the dip. Supply side, production at primary lead and secondary lead enterprises is gradually recovering, while inventory pressure from enterprises' in-factory inventory eased. In addition, given the prominent losses in secondary lead, even with supplementary imported crude lead, spot discounts for primary lead and secondary lead are unlikely to widen further and may instead narrow as lead prices weaken.

This week, China’s domestic manganese-based battery materials market has shown a differentiated operation trend. The price of battery-grade manganese tetroxide has slightly declined, the price of electrolytic manganese dioxide has slightly increased, and lithium manganate has maintained a weak balance of supply and demand.

This week, China's manganese-based battery materials market showed a differentiated operating trend: battery-grade Mn3O4 prices dropped back slightly, EMD prices edged up slightly, and LMO remained in a weak balance amid the tug-of-war between sellers and buyers. Although the three major products showed different trends, all were supported by the cost side. Overall, the market was mainly stable in the short term, with limited room for wild swings, as the industry gradually transitioned from the post-holiday resumption period to a phase of steady operations......

[Supply Disruptions Persist, Imported TCs Continued to Decline]: Weekly data showed that the average weekly TC of SMM Zn50 domestic ore was unchanged at 1,550 yuan/mt in metal content, and the SMM imported zinc concentrate index fell $4.13/dmt MoM to $11.25/dmt...