Chinese battery producers have begun raising battery prices due to the rocketing cost of lead, which has climbed above ¥21,000 ($3,051)/ tonne, according to Shanghai Metal Market data.
Lead values jumped ¥5,600 ($814)/ tonne in November— with prices hitting the highest since April 28, 2008.
“Many domestic battery producers now plan to cut or even suspend production in response to the surge in production costs,” SMM reported.
Chinese manufacturers’ have raised the lead-acid motive and ignition battery prices up to a combined 5%.
Chaowei group, a Chinese battery maker confirmed the lead-acid battery price is increasing due to the rising lead price.
Batteries customers need to pay more for the products, but the profits of Chaowei has not changed much, according to its chief scientist, Dr. Guiping Dai.
However, the on-going lead prices is not necessarily bad news as it could encourage the recycling of scrap lead-acid batteries.
According to one Chinese firm, around 200 million lead-acid batteries are discarded in China each year— that’s about 500,000 tonnes of lead per year, or around $1billion in metal value.
Last week, BBB reported a Chinese lead-acid battery firm had announced a ¥120 million ($17 million) investment in a scrap lead-acid battery recycling project.
A number of Chinese battery industry analysts have said it might induce some undesirable industries to replace products with waste batteries.
