The weekly Davis Index for secondary lead ingot in Mumbai Wednesday settled at Rs148,778/mt ($2,029.71 /mt) ex-works producer, down by Rs111/mt on lower LME levels and slight drop in trades. The market for secondary lead ingot in Mumbai strengthened as spread for the index widened by 0.32pc from the previous week.
Fewer trades pulled secondary lead ingot indexes lower on Wednesday as offers were pushed down in Delhi and Mumbai by approximately Rs50-150/mt. The weekly Davis Index for secondary lead ingot in Delhi fell by Rs56/mt to Rs150,000/mt ex-works producer while the market strengthened in terms of spread which widened by 0.36pc for the index from the previous week.
The official LME lead contract is on a downward trend since mid-December and settled $90/mt lower at $1,959/mt on Tuesday, down by $5 on a weekly basis. Consequently, offers were pulled down.
In Mumbai a moderate supply crunch exists, and if it persists until next week, prices of secondary lead ingot may rise unless prices of scrap fall in line with LME. Prices of lead batteries (drained) scrap increased last week as demand from smelters has not dipped compared to the previous week.
The weekly Davis Index for lead batteries (drained) in Mumbai, Wednesday, rose by Rs250/mt to Rs89,167/mt del consumer with healthy demand from smelters. The markets strengthened compared to the prior week as spreads for the index narrowed by 0.41pc while the index gained 0.28pc.
In Delhi, the weekly Davis Index for lead batteries (drained) settled at Rs86,917/mt del consumer, up by Rs250/mt with healthy trades. The market in Delhi strengthened with the spreads for the index contracting by 0.41pc from the prior week while the index is slightly up by 0.29pc.
Demand for secondary lead ingots from battery manufacturers is high and there is a shortage of ingots, said Mumbai smelters. There are chances that offers would be hiked in the coming days which may stretch to the next week, they noted.
($1=Rs73.30)