September 8, 2025: Asia-based battery giant Leoch is mulling a possible expansion of production at its Mexico plant even before it opens — plus a potential new factory in the US.
Company chairman Dong Li revealed on August 29 the company had launched feasibility studies on the capacity expansion in Mexico, which is set to start-up in the fourth quarter of this year.
The possible opening of a US plant could underpin the long-term development of business in the American market, but Leoch did not disclose potential battery-making capacities for Mexico or the US.
The studies were announced as Leoch posted interim results for the six months ended June 30 showing a fall in profit of more than 71% compared to the same period last year — which was in line with a profit warning issued earlier this year.
However, Leoch’s network power battery business accounted for nearly 41% of the group’s total sales during the period, with sales revenue of Rmb3.4 billion, representing a 9.4% year-on-year growth over the same period last year.
The increase was mainly driven by the rising demand for UPS batteries in datacenters as a result of the growth in cloud computing, 5G networks and digital transformation initiatives.
Leoch said it continued to have a solid presence in the datacenter and other areas of the network power battery market, offering high-quality lead acid and lithium ion batteries tailored for critical power backup applications.
Looking ahead, the company expects demand for lead-acid batteries in UPS applications to grow as the global dependence on digital infrastructure expands.
Sales revenue of the SLI battery business, the second largest revenue contributor to the group, accounted for 37% of overall sales with Rmb3.1 billion, representing a year-on-year growth of 9.6%.
Leoch said the increase was mainly driven by increased vehicle production, especially in emerging markets like India, Southeast Asia, and South America.
The group’s recycled lead business posted sales revenue for the period of Rmb1 billion, which was a year-on-year increase of nearly 47%.
The increase was mainly due to a major sales push in mainland China. However, the company said the recycled lead business encountered intense competition during the period.
Additionally, the rising cost of scrap batteries, the raw material of the recycled lead business, took a toll on the profit margin.
But the Chinese government’s roll-out of more favourable policies to boost environment friendly entities is expected to see profitability of the recycled lead business gradually improve in 2026.
