US weekly lead scrap prices were rangebound for most grades on Wednesday in a quiet market.
The weekly Davis Index for whole undrained batteries rose by 1.3¢/lb to 32.7¢/lb delivered US consumer on Wednesday after two successive weeks of decline. Still, this slight increase is being viewed as temporary in an oversupplied market. Market participants expect scrap battery prices to fall further over the next two weeks before supply and demand are balanced.
A subdued export market for lead scrap saw the Davis Indexes for heavy soft lead and mixed hard lead inching down this week. Soft lead prices decreased by 0.1¢/lb to 79.8¢/lb delivered US consumer while hard lead declined by 3.2¢/lb to 74.3¢/lb delivered on weaker demand for the grade.
Lead ingot premium inched up by 0.2¢/lb to 14.5¢/lb delivered amid extremely tight supply that is expected to continue over the next few months.
LME lead prices rose this week with the official three-month LME Lead contract closing Wednesday at $1,971/mt up by $26.50/mt from Mar 17.