January 30, 2020: The 2020 International Lead and Lead Battery Conference and CBI workshop in China planned for March 4-5 has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak in the country, the meeting organizer Alistair Davison confirmed on January 29.

Restrictions on domestic and international airlines flying to China are being tightened. Major carriers such as British Airways have refused to fly into the country.

The conference and workshop is a regular event organized by the International Lead Association and its subsidiary the Consortium for Battery Innovation. The aim of the meetings is to bring the European, Chinese and North American lead battery industries together.

The agenda was going to look at the battery and lead markets, energy storage systems and lead technology on the first day and battery research on the following day, before closing with the lead battery experts’ workshop and the responsible care and materials stewardship workshop, which would have been held in parallel.

In addition to speakers from China, the international lead battery community was to have been represented by Alistair Davidson, CBI director, Andrew Patrick, an analyst for CHR Metals, Steve Binks, director at the ILA, Niamh Owen-McLaughlin, a communications officer at the CBI, Matt Raiford, head of the CBI, Mark Stevenson, independent secondary lead expert, Ed Shaffer founder of bipolar battery firm ABC, Paolina Atanassova, manager of R&D at Cabot Corporation, Douglas Wilson, in charge of operations and strategy at Gridtential Energy, and David Rand, the retired head of battery department at CSIRO.

Separately, the ILA plans to hold two workshops in Edinburgh. The first, the EFB & Heat Workshop, is to be on May 13-14, the second, a CBI Technical Workshop on May 14-15.

A golf day, associated with the event, is planned for May 12.