NEW YORK, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Continued recovery in car and
truck sales bolstered shipments of new and replacement
automotive batteries in North America in August, fuelling
optimism about demand for lead metal, according to data the
Battery Council International released on Tuesday.
Lead is the main ingredient in automobile batteries.
Shipments of original equipment batteries rose 31 percent to
1.6 million units from a slower July, while replacement battery
shipments dipped 1.4 percent to 8.7 million, the data showed.
The data follows a 17 percent rise in August vehicle sales
in the United States.
Auto batteries often fail in extreme cold or heat during the
winter and summer months. Demand for replacement batteries was
dampened by a cooler-than-usual summer in the Northern
Hemisphere summer.
North American shipments of replacement and original
equipment automotive batteries in August:
Battery type Aug 2013 July 2013 Percent Aug 2012 Percent
Change Change
Replacement 8.7 8.8 -1.40 9.6 -9.5
batteries
Original 1.6 1.2 31.0 1.5 5.4
Equipment
Total 10.3 10 30.0 11.1 -4.07
Jan-Aug Jan-Aug Percent
2013 2012 Change
Replacement 69.9 69.8 0.15
batteries
Original 12.6 11.9 5.6
Equipment
Total 82.5 81.7 5.8
