Arun Misra, CEO of Hindustan Zinc, Stating that Zinc prices are expected to stay “strong” and are not likely to come down very soon. One of the largest zinc–lead producers, said that there could, however, be some “fluctuations here and there”. In FY22, LME prices of zinc and lead were up 36.5% and 15.7% respectively.
Meanwhile, lead prices may see “little down” due to the disturb in the automotive sector. With the move towards electric vehicles, many auto OEMs are revising their platforms. This is leading to some softening of lead demand.
“In case of lead prices there is some softening with the push towards Electric Vehicles(EVs). But my view is, more lead demand will come in as apart from lithium, vehicles would need lead acidic batteries for all auxiliary power consumption demands. So they need to restrict the lithium ion batteries for the main motor (in a car). Otherwise, overall power consumption in the vehicle will also go up,” Misra added.
According to Misra, Coal prices keep on to be high. And the company is starting over to renewable power. It would be shutting down some of its thermal power plants in “one or 1.5 year’ time”. Benefits are likely to pick up from January–February 2024 onwards.
