Lead prices across grades rose on Wednesday from last week, amid a rise in LME prices and firm domestic demand. The official three-month LME lead rose by $49/mt to $2,054/mt on Tuesday from the prior week. Lead markets weakened in terms of spreads despite a rise in indexes.
The weekly Davis Index for lead batteries (drained) in Mumbai, Wednesday, stood at Rs92,150/mt ($1,264/mt) del consumer, up by Rs1,150/mt on the back of firm trades. Prices of secondary lead ingot also rose in line with raw material prices. The weekly Index for secondary lead ingot rose by Rs1,000/mt to Rs154,500/mt ex-works Mumbai producer.
Markets for lead grades weakened in Mumbai in terms of spreads. The index for battery scrap widened by 0.54pc, and the spread for secondary lead ingot narrowed by 1.54pc.
In Delhi, the weekly index for lead batteries (drained) settled at Rs89,385/mt del consumer, up by Rs885/mt. The index gained over 1pc from the previous week while spreads for the index widened by 0.68pc indicating a weakened market.
The weekly Index for secondary lead ingot in Delhi settled at Rs155,769/mt ex-works producer, up by Rs307/mt as offers moved in tandem with higher LME. Markets for secondary lead ingot weakened as spreads for the index narrowed by 2.03pc from the previous week.
Markets are maintaining an equilibrium without any significant changes either on supply or on demand front. Import prices of secondary lead ingot rose from previous week to around $1,960/mt, prompting domestic players to hike prices.
The market for batteries is strong with companies ramping-up output to cater to demand from industrial, household and auto sectors. This would affect the demand for secondary lead and scrap markets going ahead in Q4, traditionally one of the strongest quarters in terms of demand.
($1 = Rs72.87)