In Mumbai, the weekly Davis Index for lead batteries (drained) Wednesday settled at Rs82,450/mt del consumer, up by Rs236/mt from the prior week. Spreads for the grade narrowed as the official three-month LME lead contract fell by $9/mt and settled at $1,792.5/mt on Tuesday from the week prior.
Steady demand for lead scrap from battery makers has lifted the market in Mumbai. Smelters in the region indicated that they could raise offers in the coming weeks. Market sentiments have improved in the first week of July as LME is heading north and domestic demand has improved influenced by seasonality.
Battery scrap sellers in the region are still offloading inventories for lack of space which is keeping prices under pressure. Smelters hold a better market position as their margins have expanded with the slight increase in secondary lead ingot prices over the week. The weekly Davis Index for secondary lead ingot on Wednesday settled at Rs142,367/mt ex-works producer, up by Rs700/mt.
Ingot makers hinted that demand from the auto sector has improved compared to June. The recovery could be in line with auto sales picking up and an expected ramp up of production. Supply chain has almost “healed” in Mumbai with the lockdown being eased in the city’s central areas.
Demand for industrial as well as auto batteries is set to jump in the coming weeks with battery makers stocking raw material inventories to cater to high seasonal demand for UPS and inverters in July.
In Delhi, the Davis Index for lead batteries (drained) rose by Rs883/mt to settle at Rs81,500/mt del consumer on Wednesday from the week prior driven by demand from smelters. Consequently, the index for secondary lead ingots in Delhi also rose by Rs300/mt to Rs139,083/mt del consumer from the prior week.
Delhi-based smelters booked healthy volumes of battery scrap lifting prices up from the prior week, driven by a revival of orders from battery makers in Haryana, NCR region and Faridabad.
Prices for secondary lead ingot and battery rose for the second consecutive week in major cities and is likely to rise in the coming week, said ingot producers. Secondary lead manufacturers are planning to ramp up production to meet apparent demand from end-users.
The domestic lead market has strengthened as spreads for scrap narrowed and spreads for ingots widened with LME contract falling by $9/mt to $1,792.5 on Tuesday from the week prior and the rupee slowly gaining on dollar. On Wednesday, the rupee stood at 74.95 against a dollar compared to 75.55 in the previous week.
Primary lead prices in India were revised down by Rs2,600/mt to Rs159,700/mt as on July 6 from June 29 in line with similiar change in LME lead prices.
($1=Rs74.95)