A salesgirl waits for customers at the Best Battery Trading Co. showroom in Insein township. Pic: Sann Oo

PRICES of batteries in Myanmar are rising in line with soaring international prices for lead although the full impact is not likely to be felt until the dry summer months because of currently good electricity supplies due to full hydropower lakes, battery traders in Yangon said.

Lead acid batteries enjoy regular sales to vehicle owners but sales to customers using them to augment electricity supplies at home tend to peak during the hot months of February through May, dealers said.

Lead cost US$1200 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange (LME) one year ago but has since almost tripled to around $3300. According to the LME, batteries account for 71 percent of the world’s lead consumption.

“The world price for lead has gone up about 75pc in recent months and that affects costs for battery producers worldwide and they have to raise the prices of their batteries,” said U Than Oo, managing director of Best Battery Trading Co., Ltd, which stocks Atlas batteries imported from South Korea.

“Some (foreign) producers have cut back their production and our supplier only sent part of our last order,” he said.

Over the past year battery prices in Yangon have risen 10-20pc, he added.
U Than Oo said some manufacturers used recycled lead acid to be able to offer cheaper products.

“Pure lead costs about 30pc more than recycled lead but recycled lead is lower quality and results in a shorter lifespan for batteries,” he said.

Most of Myanmar’s discarded batteries are exported to China where battery makers recycle the lead, often sending the lead back into Myanmar in the form of new batteries.

“Every part of a battery can be used again so China buys up the old batteries,” U Than Oo said.

There are about 30 battery brands on the Yangon market.