US lead scrap prices were mostly unchanged this week as cold weather conditions across the Northeast and Midwest continued to impact supply.
The weekly Davis Index for whole undrained batteries inched up by 0.1¢/lb to 32.7¢/lb delivered US consumer on Wednesday. The cold weather conditions will increase the availability of scrap batteries because of which, some market participants expect supply to outpace demand throughout March.
On the other hand, the inclement weather has affected freight and backed up deliveries for lead scrap. Tight supply continued to lift the Davis Index for heavy soft lead by 0.7¢/lb to 81.6¢/lb delivered US consumer, while hard lead increased by 0.4¢/lb to 77¢/lb delivered.
Lead ingot premiums slipped by 0.2¢/lb to 12.5¢/lb delivered despite bullish market sentiment due to tight supply and an expectation of premiums rising in the near term.
LME lead prices increased this week with the official three-month LME Lead contract closing Wednesday at $2,139/mt up by $33/mt from $2,106/mt on Feb 17.