October 24, 2019: China’s largest lead producer, Henan Yuguang Gold and Lead, is to set up a lead-acid battery production line ‘as part of a downstream expansion’, news reports said on October 16.

Reuters said the company, which is based in central China’s Henan Province, had not decided on a capacity or location for the plant, according to deputy chief engineer Li Gui.

The company already recycles lead batteries, setting up its waste lead battery recycling network system in 2007, which includes automatic separation for lead batteries with ‘bottom blowing smelting renewable lead technology’.

It means that Yuguang, which plans to set up 67 lead battery collection and storage stations in six provinces, will have a closed-loop network of lead production, manufacture, collection and recycling.

Henan Yuguang Gold and Lead was founded in 1997. It has a market capitalization of around Rmb5 billion ($700 million) and employs some 3,700 people.

“We want to gradually form a perfect secondary recycling usage industrial chain,” Li was quoted by Reuters as saying.