Weekly domestic lead prices across grades trended flat to up on Wednesday in Delhi and Mumbai despite a drop in LME lead contract prices.
The official three-month LME lead contract fell by $11/mt over the week to $1,965.5/mt on Tuesday. Scrap prices should have fallen in line with LME but by the first half of the day, offers were almost flat from the prior week.
Demand in domestic markets were firm. Markets for lead grades strengthened in terms of spread on Wednesday, compared to the previous week.
Delhi
The weekly Davis Index for lead batteries (drained) on Wednesday settled at Rs95,800/mt ($1,320/mt) del Delhi consumer, up by Rs550/mt, driven by firm demand. The weekly index for secondary lead ingot on Wednesday in Delhi settled at Rs161,000/mt ex-works producer, flat from the week prior. Some offers were heard above Rs161,000/mt but no deals were heard at this price.
Offers in the previous week exceeded Rs163,000/mt. Prices are likely to gradually slip in coming days if LME lead continues its downtrend. Demand for secondary lead ingot seasonally rises in these months ahead of the summer season as production of UPS and generators increases.
Delhi markets for both scrap and ingot strengthened on Wednesday in terms of spread. For secondary lead ingot, spreads for the prices index widened by 1.24pc. Spreads for lead batteries (drained) index contracted by 1.12pc from the previous week.
Mumbai
The weekly Davis Index for lead batteries (drained) on Wednesday settled at Rs93,000/mt del Mumbai consumer, up by Rs222/mt. Offers were kept on similar levels compared to the prior week as demand was firm.
Some deals were heard at and around the index prices on Wednesday. The weekly Davis Index for secondary lead ingot in Mumbai settled at Rs155,500/mt ex-works producer, up by Rs389/mt on reduced offers.
The spreads for secondary lead ingot widened by 1.48pc on Wednesday from the prior week and the spreads for lead batteries (drained) contracted by 0.87pc. Markets in Mumbai strengthened in terms of spreads.
($1 = Rs72.55)