US lead scrap and whole undrained battery prices were flat to slightly down, depending on grade, on Wednesday.
The weekly Davis Index for whole undrained batteries was unchanged at 34.3¢/lb delivered US consumer on Wednesday, while the index for heavy soft lead ticked down by 0.3¢/lb to 67.1¢/lb delivered.
An abundance of supply is weighing on the demand dynamics of the whole undrained batteries market. Producers remain buoyant about seasonal sales but are concerned over the pressure on prices if the supply glut continues through August despite strong order books.
The domestic demand for lead scrap also stabilized over the past week after trending up throughout July due to a rise in export of the material to Asian countries. Buying activity had increased until last week as supply remained abundant, according to market participants, but it had decreased by Wednesday as buyers found adequate volumes.
A varied regional demand has also seen lead scrap prices trending up in some pockets around the country while holding at current levels across other regions.
Mixed hard lead was the only grade to move up, with the Davis Index for the grade rising by 0.2¢/lb to 61¢/lb to make up for some of its losses from last week.
Premiums continued to decline with the lead ingot premium decreasing by 0.1¢/lb to 8¢/lb under the three-month LME Lead contract as lead inventories continued to increase, according to some market participants amid a volatile LME.
The official three-month LME Lead contract closed Wednesday at $1,907 up by $47/mt from $1,860/mt on July 29.