US weekly lead scrap prices trended sideways on Wednesday in tandem with a rangebound LME Lead market.
LME lead prices inched up during the week with the official three-month LME Lead contract closing Wednesday at $1,998.50/mt up by $23/mt from Apr 7. The LME Lead market has traded flat since the beginning of the month. LME Lead cash began April at $1,942.50/mt, touched a high of $1,969/mt last week, and has only inched down by $1/mt since then.
A lack of activity in the LME Lead market along with balanced supply and demand kept lead scrap prices rangebound this week with the weekly Davis Index for heavy soft lead inching up by 0.3¢/lb to 79.2¢/lb delivered US consumer. The index for hard lead moved up by 0.4¢/lb to 75.7¢/lb delivered.
Lead ingot premium increased by 0.3¢/lb to 15.3¢/lb delivered US consumer on Wednesday, continuing its climb amid a severe shortage of refined lead, which is likely to last for several months.
The index for whole undrained batteries was flat at 31¢/lb delivered US consumer on Wednesday as supply continued to outpace demand in a trend that is likely to last through April.