After undergoing a major industry reshuffle, at the end of 2011, the production of lead-acid battery backbone enterprises resumed, the production of car batteries increased slightly, the inventory of electric vehicle battery market began to increase, and the production capacity of key enterprises expanded by 30% to 40%. In 2012, lead-acid battery capacity and production will continue to increase, and it is expected that the average annual growth rate during the “12th Five-Year Plan” period will reach 16%. In 2011, the output of lead-acid batteries of enterprises above designated size in China was 142.3 million kVA/hour, and the output in 2015 will reach 240 million kVA/hour.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that in the first two months of 2012, the output of lead-acid batteries in China increased by 7.2% year-on-year, and that of electric vehicles increased by 17.3% year-on-year. As the weather gets warmer, companies are gradually returning to work and the demand for electric vehicles will gradually increase and peak in the summer. Last year, China’s refined lead consumption was more than 4 million tons, of which lead-acid batteries accounted for about 70% of refined lead consumption. In the coming months, the increase in refined lead consumption will support the recovery of lead prices.