Domestic secondary lead ingot prices in Mumbai gained while Delhi’s prices were flat from the week prior. The official three-month LME lead contract trended down, which weighed on lead scrap prices in Delhi and Mumbai.
The official LME lead contract settled at $2,278/mt, down by $6/mt on Tuesday from a week ago, which brought down scrap prices.
In Mumbai, the weekly Davis Index for secondary lead ingot, Wednesday, settled at Rs173,500/mt ($2,374.44/mt) ex-works Mumbai producer, up by Rs1,167/mt driven by higher offers. Demand continues to be firm, but prices are rising on the back of expectations of higher prices in the coming days. Consequently, offers rose despite LME lead inching down.
The Davis Index for secondary lead ingot in Delhi settled at Rs174,500/mt ex-works producer, flat from a week ago. The Indian rupee gained by 2pc against the US dollar in a week. Last Tuesday, the rupee was 74.2 against a dollar, while on Sep 1, it appreciated to 73.
Domestic lead batteries (drained) grade slipped by almost 1-2pc from the prior week. The Davis Index for lead batteries (drained) for Delhi settled at Rs102,090/mt del Delhi consumer, down by Rs1,650/mt, while the index for Mumbai settled at Rs102,633/mt del Mumbai consumer, down by Rs517/mt from a week ago. Scrap prices are down in line with the drop in LME. Demand, however, is constant.
The market for lead scrap and ingot strengthened in terms of spread in both Delhi and Mumbai, on Tuesday. Despite the drop in battery scrap prices, markets improved as demand remains firm and trades balanced. Similarly, the secondary lead ingot markets also strengthened as the spread widened from a week prior with the hike in prices despite the drop in LME. Furthermore, the rupee has gained, which resulted in strengthened markets.
($1=Rs73)