Global Market for Refined Lead Metal Ended in Deficit

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest edition of the monthly ‘Lead and Zinc Statistics Bulletin’ published by the International Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG) suggests that global market for refined lead metal ended in deficit during the first five months of the current year, when compared with the corresponding period a year before.

According to provisional data released by ILZSG, world lead metal demand exceeded supply, thereby pushing the market to a deficit of 42,000 tonnes during Jan-May ‘19. Over this period, the total reported lead stock levels declined modestly by 22,000 tonnes.

The global lead mine production increased marginally by 1.3% over this period. The rise in output was primarily due to higher output reported by countries including Canada, India, Mexico, Peru and Sweden. On the other hand, the mine production recorded decline in Australia and China. The lead mine output totaled 1.936 million tonnes during Jan-May ‘19.

The refined lead metal production during this period recorded a surge of 2.3% to total 4.833 million tonnes. The production remained more or less stable in Europe, Japan and the U.S. Meantime, China, Korea and India recorded higher output levels over the previous year.

The global lead metal usage rose by 2.8% year-on-year to total 4.875 million tonnes, mainly on account of rises in China, India and Taiwan. Upon comparison with first five months of 2018, the metal usage reported decline in Europe, Japan, Korea and the U.S. in Jan-May ’19.

The ILZSG monthly statistics suggest that monthly global lead mine output totaled 391.5 kt in May this year. The global refined lead metal production totaled 966.4 kt, whereas global lead metal usage totaled 953.0 kt during the month.