The weekly Davis Index for US whole undrained lead batteries rose by 0.3¢/lb to 32.8¢/lb delivered US consumer on Wednesday, as battery plants’ production improved to their usual seasonal output levels.
Last week, the lead acid batteries market was shaken by news of Recyclex’s lead batteries plant in Germany and Exide in the US filing for bankruptcy. The near-term impact from these developments could be limited in the US, though, since Exide continues to operate its smelters. Domestic batteries producers don’t anticipate prices will be impacted much moving into the summer, unless Exide were to close any one of its smelters.
The weekly Davis Index for heavy soft lead rose by 1.2 ¢/lb to 59.9¢/lb delivered consumer on Wednesday, as scrap movement improved amid factory restarts. The index for mixed hard lead also inched up to 57.7¢/lb delivered from 57¢/lb delivered. The Davis Index for lead ingot premium held at 8.9¢/lb delivered consumer.
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The official three-month LME lead contract closed Wednesday at $1,658.50/mt, declining by $20.5/mt from $1,679/mt on May 20. Market participants are looking for more volatility on the LME to support higher prices now that scrap volumes have improved upon the past few weeks