There was a small drop in the imported waste batteries average price during December last year though the LME lead value fell $44 per ton for October ~November versus September and October.
The LME average price in 2018 continued downward from $2,028.23 in September to $1,985.15 in October, and to $1,940.16 per ton the following month. Although the supply for waste battery is sufficient globally due to the winter storm, the domestic price is sustaining relatively higher rate than other regions on the competition to acquire supply. Lately, the competition to secure sufficient waste batteries is intensifying among the domestic lead recyclers due to the reduced import from Japan, reportedly causing higher end of business price of the waster batteries compared with the LME lead price.
For January this year, the waste battery price averages near $970 per ton, forcing the lead recyclers to deteriorated profitability.
The LME lead price continued subdued since July 2018, but the import price of waste battery is assumed to keep higher than the market expectations due largely to the suspended import from Japan. It is forecast to end the Japanese restriction of the waste batteries export soon, and therefore the waste batteries import price is expected to show steady in spite of the dampened LME lead value recently. The US-sourced waste batteries accounted for the largest share of the total import over December last year tallied 18,277 metric tons, averaging $965 per ton. This rate represents a rise by 2,150 tons from the preceding month, or down $37 per ton on the average import price terms. The import of waste battery had been showing increase from the US between May and December last year. It is predicted the waste battery imports from both the US and Arab Emirate to replace the Japanese materials. Import from Arab Emirate accounted for the second largest share of the total import registering $982 a ton with a total of 4,883 metric tons. On the contrary, import of waste batter from Japan was 1,241 metric tons at $922 per ton. The lowest import price was registered in the import from Polynesia which reported $780 per ton before the Customs Service.
Source: Steel&Metal News |
