SMM March 14 News:
From March 8 to March 14, 2025, the weekly operating rate of secondary lead in four provinces monitored by SMM was 58.71%, down 4.2 percentage points WoW. During the week, heavy pollution weather alerts were issued in many northern regions, coupled with environmental protection inspections in certain areas. Secondary lead smelters cooperated by reducing or halting production, leading to a decline in the operating rate. In Anhui, the operating rate dropped by 0.99 percentage points this week. In Henan, smelters faced transportation disruptions due to environmental protection-related controls, resulting in poor arrivals of scrap batteries. Most enterprises implemented production cuts, causing the regional operating rate to fall by 13.41 percentage points. Operating rates in Jiangsu and Inner Mongolia showed relatively small changes. As heavy pollution weather gradually subsided, production slowly recovered, and the operating rate of secondary lead may see a slight increase next week. However, actual performance will still depend on the arrivals of raw material scrap batteries.
