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Lead

US critical

A dense, soft metal used mainly in lead-acid batteries. It is usually mined together with zinc and silver, and most lead consumed in Europe and the United States is recycled from spent batteries. The United States added lead to its critical minerals list in 2025.

Supply risk

Reviewed 3 Oct 2026 · Methodology

Low

Diverse, largely recycled supply in a market in surplus

No driver is above moderate: China mines about 42% of world lead (supply concentration moderate), but refined output is about three times mine output because most lead is recycled from batteries, and the ILZSG reported a refined surplus in the first half of 2026. No export controls apply.

Since 1 Jan 2023 · Sources: U.S. Geological Survey, International Lead and Zinc Study Group

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Risk drivers

Supply concentrationModerate
China mined about 1.9 million t of the world's 4.5 million t of lead in 2025 (about 42%), ahead of Australia, Peru and the US. Secondary lead from scrap supplies most refined metal; in the US it equalled 70% of apparent consumption in 2025.Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Export controlsLow
No export licensing, bans or quotas on lead concentrate or refined lead by major producing countries were identified.
Policy & tariffsModerate
Lead was added to the US List of Critical Minerals on 7 Nov 2025. On 14 Jan 2026 the US closed its Section 232 review of processed critical minerals without a tariff and opened negotiations with trading partners, leaving further measures possible.Sources: U.S. Geological Survey, Covington & Burling
Operational disruptionModerate
World lead mine output fell 3% in the first half of 2026, with declines in China, Peru, South Africa, Sweden and the US. Seismic activity is limiting output at Boliden's Garpenberg mine in Sweden this year. Refined lead output still rose 0.5%.Sources: International Lead and Zinc Study Group, International Lead and Zinc Study Group
Demand shockLow
The ILZSG forecasts refined lead demand growth of 1.1% in 2026 and a refined surplus of 109,000 t. Provisional data show supply exceeded demand by 49,000 t in the first half of 2026.Sources: International Lead and Zinc Study Group, International Lead and Zinc Study Group

A supply-availability rating, not a price forecast or investment view. Export-control information is factual and is not legal advice.

Trade flows

2024 · HS 780110

Refined lead, unwrought

Recorded world imports: 2 Mt · $4.34B

Top exporters

  1. India14%268,743 t · $575M
  2. South Korea10%193,029 t · $443M
  3. Australia7%134,402 t · $308M
  4. United Kingdom6%113,781 t · $268M
  5. Mexico6%113,260 t · $217M
  6. Belgium5%97,317 t · $209M
  7. Bulgaria5%96,428 t · $226M
  8. Kazakhstan4%85,444 t · $180M
  9. Canada4%84,650 t · $166M
  10. Germany4%75,240 t · $170M

Top importers

  1. United States17%342,761 t · $731M
  2. Singapore13%252,757 t · $534M
  3. Germany7%135,165 t · $304M
  4. India7%132,421 t · $298M
  5. Türkiye6%113,695 t · $253M
  6. South Korea5%108,880 t · $236M
  7. China5%102,694 t · $217M
  8. Italy4%88,800 t · $183M
  9. Malaysia4%71,574 t · $147M
  10. Spain3%67,351 t · $136M

Largest routes

  1. India→Singapore141,429 t · $297M
  2. South Korea→India87,472 t · $200M
  3. Canada→United States84,437 t · $165M
  4. Mexico→United States80,035 t · $140M
  5. India→South Korea78,252 t · $169M

Source: UN Comtrade, imports reported by 101 countries for 2024. Exporters are ranked by what importing countries recorded (mirror data), so countries that do not report their own exports are still counted. Values are in US dollars including freight and insurance. Weights are product weight. Recent years can be incomplete, and unrecorded trade is not included.

Overview

Lead is a dull, silvery-grey metal that is soft, dense and easily worked. Many former uses, such as paint, petrol additives and water pipes, have been banned or phased out because lead is harmful to health, especially to children. It is still widely used in car batteries, radiation shielding, ammunition, cable sheathing and some solders.1

Lead-acid batteries dominate demand. In the United States they accounted for an estimated 67% of apparent consumption in 2025.2 Lead was added to the US List of in November 2025.32 It is not on the EU list.4

Where it comes from

Lead is rarely mined on its own. Most identified are associated with zinc, silver or copper deposits in Australia, China, Ireland, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, Russia and Alaska. Identified world resources exceed 2 billion t.2

World was an estimated 4.5 million t in 2025, and China mined about 42% of it.2

Mine production by country2025 (est.) · world 4,500,000 t
  • China42%
  • Australia11%
  • Peru6%
  • United States6%
  • Russia6%
  • India5%
  • Mexico4%
  • Other countries19%

Lead content of concentrates. Country figures sum to 4,480,000 t; USGS rounds the world total to 4.5 million t. Source: Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Lead

output, which includes secondary lead recovered from , is about three times mine output. The International Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG) reports world refined lead production of 13.69 million t in 2025 against usage of 13.62 million t. In the first half of 2026, refined production was 6.85 million t and usage 6.80 million t.5 For 2026 it forecasts output of 13.83 million t and demand of 13.72 million t.6

In the United States, lead comes from five mines in Missouri and is also a at two zinc mines in Alaska and two silver mines in Idaho. The last US primary lead refinery closed in 2013, so nearly all US lead is exported.2

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What it is used for

Lead-acid batteries are used as starting-lighting-ignition (SLI) batteries in vehicles, as standby power for computer and telecommunications networks, and for motive power.2 Other uses include pigments, ammunition, cable sheathing, weights, lead crystal glass, radiation protection and roofing.1

Grades and forms

Lead is traded as concentrate and as refined metal, which may be primary (from ) or secondary (from scrap). Lead and antimonial lead are classified separately in trade.2

Lead concentrate

Galena (lead sulfide) concentrate, often carrying silver, produced at lead-zinc and silver mines for smelting.

Refined lead

≥ 99.97% Pb (LME)

Primary or secondary metal cast into ingots, the main traded form.

Lead alloys

Lead with antimony, calcium or tin, used for battery grids and other components.

Lead oxide

Oxide powder used in battery pastes, glass and ceramics.

Battery scrap

Spent lead-acid batteries, the main feed for secondary lead smelters.

Trade and policy

The United States relied on imports for 33% of its refined lead in 2025, up from 27% in 2024. Canada (31%), the Republic of Korea (16%), Mexico (15%) and Australia (13%) were the main sources in 2021–24. In the first eight months of 2025, the United States exported 23 million spent SLI batteries, 23% more than a year earlier.2

DateEvent
23 Apr 2025The US Commerce Department opens a Section 232 investigation into imports of processed critical minerals and derivative products.7
7 Nov 2025Lead is added to the US List of Critical Minerals, together with copper, potash, rhenium, silicon and silver.2
15 Jan 2026A presidential proclamation concludes the Section 232 investigation without imposing tariffs and directs officials to negotiate with trading partners.7

This section is factual background, not legal or trade-compliance advice.

Recycling and substitution

In Europe and the United States, 99% of lead batteries are collected and at the end of their life.8 In 2025 the United States produced about 1 million t of secondary lead, equal to 70% of its apparent consumption, nearly all of it from old scrap, mostly batteries.2

Plastics have replaced lead in cable covering and cans. Tin has replaced it in solder for drinking-water systems, and electronics have moved to lead-free solders. Steel and zinc are common in wheel weights.2

Sources

  1. Lead: element information, properties and uses. Royal Society of Chemistry, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩2

  2. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Lead. U.S. Geological Survey, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11

  3. Final 2025 List of Critical Minerals. Federal Register, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩

  4. EU critical raw materials. European Commission, Joint Research Centre (RMIS), accessed 2026-10-03. ↩

  5. ILZSG press release, August 2026. International Lead and Zinc Study Group, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩

  6. ILZSG Spring 2026 meetings and forecasts. International Lead and Zinc Study Group, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩

  7. Trump administration announces results of critical minerals investigation under Section 232. Covington & Burling, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩2

  8. International Lead Association. International Lead Association, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩

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