Summary
- Lead has barely moved. The World Bank's annual average LME lead price was $1,867 per tonne in 2016, peaked at $2,315 in 2017 and was $1,962 in 2025.
- Refined lead is imported near the LME price. Eight large importers declared between 88% and 119% of the annual LME average in 2017 to 2025, with a median of 107%.
- India's refined lead imports rose from 240 thousand tonnes in 2016 to 449 thousand tonnes in 2024. The United States declared 383 to 658 thousand tonnes a year, with Canada and Mexico its largest suppliers in 2025.
- China imports lead concentrate, not much metal: 1.01 to 1.57 million tonnes of ore and concentrate a year, with Russia the largest supplier in 2025.
- China's declared concentrate price rose 43% from 2019 to 2025 while the LME price was flat.
- Concentrate prices are not comparable between countries: in 2024 the declared price was $1,642 per tonne for China, $2,520 for Germany, $2,621 for Japan, $3,413 for South Korea and $828 for India.
Refined lead is the reliable part of the data. Concentrate prices per tonne are not lead prices and are not comparable between countries. The report explains this and the other limits.
What is in the full report
5 pages, as a PDF.
- The LME benchmark for 2016 to 2025 with year-on-year changes and a chart
- Refined lead import prices for eight importers, each as a share of LME, and import quantities
- Concentrate import prices and quantities for China, Germany, Japan, South Korea, India and Bulgaria
- China's concentrate price by supplier: Russia, Australia, Peru, Tajikistan and Oman
- The data limits and which figures were excluded, and why