Lower demand in automotive Original Equipment (OE) segment due to slowdown in Indian Automobile Industry remains a vibrant problem for Lead in days to come. This metal has a potential to gain on account of Indian demand but hurdles of higher interest rates and rising petroleum product prices is slowing down consumption.
The inflation numbers in the country is still ruling high and that has forced the Reserve Bank of India to stay away from declining interest rates steadily. One sector that was aiding the lead demand was industrial battery segment. UPS batteries continued to grow robustly this year but the onset of winters is expected to derail this demand as well. The remaining quarter might have to handle subdued demand as UPS and Invertor sales decline in winters.
On MCX, benchmark Lead for December expiry is at Rs 110 per kg. Since testing a low at Rs 99.8 per kg on 29 October, prices are up by 10.2%. LME lead is trading at $ 1981.5 per tonne, up 9% since the start of this year. Demand from North America and rising Chinese automobile sales is pushing the prices higher in international markets.
