Lead

Lead Global Market Outlook

• Global lead demand increased by 4 percent Y-o-Y in 2021, driven by an increase in demand for energy storage devices in the renewable energy sector and in battery operated equipment like forklifts, etc.

• Electricity rationing in China has been pushing the demand for electricity storage devices, like inverters and UPSes, may drive the demand for lead acid batteries

Impact of COVID-19 on Lead Industry

• Resurgence of COVID-19 in the US, Europe, and South Asia, may impact the economic recovery and consumer confidence, impacting lead demand in the short term.

• Lead smelters in key producing regions, like China, Australia, North America, and Europe, have largely resumed normal operations by the end of Q2 2021. However, regional resurgence of COVID-19, impacted demand for automobiles in Europe and the US

• Subsequent waves of the pandemic in US, South Asia, and Europe, have disrupted operations in the downstream industries, affecting lead demand

Porter’s Five Forces Analysis on Lead Industry

Supplier Power

• Supply base regionally concentrated. Over 80 percent of the global refined lead production is concentrated in countries producing over 100 kT of lead per year

• Top five lead producing companies account for over 40 percent of global lead supply

Barriers to New Entrants

• Entry barriers, in the recycling segment, is moderately high. Lead recycling is fairly simple process, but capital intensive in nature, due to environmental regulations, inn terms of waste handling and management

• Lead mining has high entry barriers, as lead is generally obtained as a by product of zinc, copper and silver ore refining process, which is highly capital intensive in nature

Intensity of Rivalry

• Intensity of rivalry is low to moderate, due to growing demand from energy storage industry

• Price benchmarks and regional premiums are based on LME trades

Threat of Substitutes

• In he recent years, there has been increase in substitution of lead in applications, like paints and coatings (due to toxicity issues), as well as in the car batteries segment (with lithium ion emerging as a growing substitute). However, due to its cost effectiveness and high thermal stability, the demand for lead, in battery applications, is still on an uptrend

Buyer Power

• Largest buyer of lead metal, mainly lead acid battery manufacturers, account for close to 80 percent of the global demand for the material

• Apart from a few integrated large players, like Exide, Ebat, EnerSys, etc., the market for OEM lead acid batteries is moderately fragmented, especially in Asia