Lead

Overview

Three takeaways

1. Refined lead production (about 13.6 Mt) is roughly three times mine output (4.5 Mt) – the difference is covered by recycling, mainly of spent batteries.
2. Demand hinges on one product: lead-acid batteries take about 87% of lead – in vehicles, backup power and energy storage.
3. Poland produces 145 kt of refined lead – the 14th largest output in the world and the fourth in the European Union; battery recycling is the basis of production.

No other metal demonstrates the power of the circular economy as vividly as lead. The world uses about 13.5 million tonnes of refined lead a year, yet only about 4.5 million tonnes come from mines – the difference is covered by recycling. It is a metal with two faces: toxic and rightly phased out of petrol, paints and pipes, yet – in the form of the lead-acid battery – the most recycled consumer product in the world, operating in an almost perfectly closed loop.

Properties

Lead (Pb) is a heavy, soft and malleable metal of a bluish-grey colour. Its density (about 11.34 g/cm³) is among the highest of metals in common use, which – together with its high atomic number – makes it an excellent shield against ionising radiation (medicine, nuclear energy). A low melting point (327.4 °C), corrosion resistance and ease of forming have made it easy to work since antiquity. The Latin name for lead, plumbum, survives in the word "plumber".

Source: International Lead and Zinc Study Group, World Lead Factbook 2026, p. 7.

From plumbum to the battery – a short history

Lead was one of the first metals smelted by humankind. In ancient Rome it was used to build water pipes, vessels and seals. For most of the 20th century lead was ubiquitous – in paints, solders, pipes and as an anti-knock petrol additive. Awareness of its toxicity, however, led to the systematic phasing-out of these uses, culminating in the global end of leaded petrol. Lead did not disappear from the economy, though – it moved into the safe, closed loop of batteries.

Market

Where lead comes from – minerals, mines and two production streams

The principal ore mineral of lead is galena (PbS); cerussite (PbCO₃) and anglesite (PbSO₄) are also important. Lead is rarely mined on its own – it usually occurs with zinc, silver and copper and is recovered together with them. ILZSG statistics distinguish two streams of refined lead production. Primary production uses concentrates, lead bullion and other primary materials, including slags, residues and drosses from primary smelting. Secondary production uses scrap – spent batteries, sheet, strip, pipe, cable sheathing – and residues from fabrication. Lead that is merely remelted, without full refining, is not counted as production.

Source: International Lead and Zinc Study Group, World Lead Factbook 2026, pp. 6, 8, 16 and 62. Primary and secondary shares read from the chart on p. 16 (2025).

The lead market in 2025 – ILZSG figures

Source: International Lead and Zinc Study Group, World Lead Factbook 2026, pp. 8, 10–11, 13, 16, 20–21, 28–29, 32, 44–46 and 54. World production and usage derived from China’s shares (40%).

Market and production – geography and prices

According to the International Lead and Zinc Study Group, lead was mined in 43 countries in 2025, and world mine output reached about 4.5 million tonnes of contained lead. The leader is China (1.98 Mt, about 44%), ahead of Australia (411 kt) and Peru (312 kt). World reserves were estimated at about 95 million tonnes at the end of 2025 – the largest in Australia – and identified resources at more than 2 billion tonnes. Lead is usually mined as a co-product or by-product of zinc and silver mining.

The geography of mining is shifting towards Asia: in 2025 Asian mines produced 2.54 million tonnes of lead. In the Americas, output has held at 1.0–1.2 Mt for years, in Europe it fell from 0.84 Mt in 1985 to about 0.50 Mt, and in Africa to about 0.07 Mt. World mine output first exceeded 4 Mt in 2010, peaked at 5.244 Mt in 2013 and has stayed close to 4.5 Mt in recent years. The ILZSG records 243 operating mines with a combined capacity of 4.32 Mt a year.

Source: International Lead and Zinc Study Group, World Lead Factbook 2026, pp. 8, 11, 12 and 13.

Refined lead – producers and feed structure

The most telling figure is refined production: in 2025 it reached a record of about 13.6 million tonnes – roughly three times mine output. The difference is covered by secondary production, chiefly from spent batteries. Its share of world refined lead production ranged between 55% and 70% over 2005–2025 and first exceeded 60% in 2016. In the USA the last primary smelter closed in 2013 (U.S. Geological Survey); across the Americas secondary production now supplies 93% of refined lead.

Source: International Lead and Zinc Study Group, World Lead Factbook 2026, pp. 16, 20, 22 and 23. World output derived from China’s share (5.425 Mt = 40%).

Refined lead production is highly concentrated: countries producing more than 100 kt accounted for 89% of world output in 2025, and China alone for 40%. Yet more than 80 countries and regions have smelting or refining capacity. The feed structure differs by region: secondary production supplies 93% of refined lead in the Americas, 80% in Europe and 59% in Asia. The ILZSG links Asia’s lower secondary share to scope for further growth, subject to scrap availability, collection rates and investment.

Lead usage – countries, regions and trends

More than 80 countries and regions use refined lead. Over 2016–2025 world usage grew by 1.414 Mt, entirely thanks to Asia (+1.52 Mt), with small declines in Europe (−0.08 Mt) and the Americas (−0.02 Mt); within Asian growth China accounted for 55%, India 25% and Vietnam 14%. In recent years world usage has stayed within about 13.0–13.6 Mt. Asia accounts for 59% of the world population and 67% of lead usage, Africa for 19% of the population and 1% of usage. Cumulative refined lead usage reached 466.5 Mt by 2025 and, if the 2019–2025 trend continues, will exceed 532.8 Mt by 2030.

Capacity since 2000 – mines and plants

The balance since 2000 shows where capacity is being added: a net gain of about 7 Mt at smelters and refineries against about 1.3 Mt at mines, consistent with the growing role of secondary production. Cumulative world primary lead production reached 237.4 Mt by the end of 2025; if the 2019–2025 trend continues, it will reach 259 Mt in 2030.

Source: International Lead and Zinc Study Group, World Lead Factbook 2026, pp. 14, 15 and 17.

Stocks and prices

The London Metal Exchange cash price for lead (annual average) ranged roughly between USD 1,800 and 2,350/t over 2016–2025: it peaked in 2017 and 2021, and in 2025 was about USD 2,000/t, slightly lower than a year earlier. Total refined lead stocks – held by consumers and producers and in LME and Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) warehouses – fell to about 320 kt in 2022 and then rose to about 575 kt in 2025, the highest level of the decade.

Source: International Lead and Zinc Study Group, World Lead Factbook 2026, p. 58 (London Metal Exchange data; values read from the chart and rounded).

Strengths and weaknesses – the ILZSG SWOT summary

Source: International Lead and Zinc Study Group, World Lead Factbook 2026, p. 60.

Applications

Applications – the use structure

Lead’s use structure is extremely concentrated today. ILZSG estimates that lead-acid batteries take 86.6% of refined lead, rolled and extruded products 6.7%, lead compounds, oxides and salts 4.8%, and shot and ammunition as well as alloys, solder and miscellaneous uses 1.0% each. Many former uses (petrol, paints, solder in consumer electronics) have been phased out for health and environmental reasons; lead has remained where its density, durability, corrosion resistance, shielding performance or recyclability provide a technical advantage.

The lead-acid battery – the flywheel of the economy

Invented in 1859, the lead-acid battery remains one of the world's most important energy technologies. It serves three main roles: starting (SLI) – in almost every combustion-engine vehicle; backup power – in telecommunications, data centres, UPS systems and hospitals; and motive power – in forklifts and low-speed vehicles. Despite the rise of lithium-ion cells, it is lead that underpins the starting and standby power of countless critical systems.

Source: International Lead Association; Battery Council International.

The ILZSG Factbook gives the scale: an automotive starting battery (SLI) contains on average 9–14 kg of lead, while start-stop batteries – advanced AGM and EFB designs – contain about 20% more. In industrial batteries refined lead can account for nearly 60% of the weight. Batteries account for 97% of lead use in Japan, 92% in the USA and China, 84% in Europe and 75% in India. Battery manufacturing is concentrated in Asia (about 72% of producers), followed by the Americas (11%), Europe (10%) and Africa (6%). Alternative battery chemistries and electric vehicles may over time reduce the traditional SLI market, but the ILZSG expects any transition to be gradual.

Energy storage and new technologies

Although lithium attracts media attention, lead is still developing. Lead-carbon batteries and advanced lead designs are used in energy storage at renewables, backup power and start-stop systems that cut vehicle emissions. Lead's advantages are low cost, safety, a mature technology and – crucially – the lowest production carbon footprint and a fully developed recycling system among battery technologies. In many stationary applications lead remains a rational, complementary alternative to lithium.

Trade

Trade – concentrates and refined lead

In 2025 world exports of lead concentrates (in contained lead) amounted to 1,990.4 kt, after a record 2,192.6 kt in 2024. Peru became the largest exporter (19% of world exports, compared with 17% in 2016); Australia and Mexico also gained share, while the United States and Russia declined. China remains the largest importer, with its share rising from 42% in 2014 to 47% in 2025; Korea Rep. ranks second (21%), and Germany and Belgium retained stable shares. In refined lead trade, the United States is the largest importer and Korea Rep. the largest exporter; the five largest importers account for 37.6% of world imports and the five largest exporters for 31% of exports.

Recycling

Recycling – the champion of the circular economy

Here lead is unrivalled. Lead-acid batteries achieve about a 99% recycling rate and are the most recycled consumer product in the USA – ahead of aluminium cans. A typical new battery is made of more than 80% recycled material, and secondary lead is chemically identical to primary and can be recovered indefinitely. This "manufacture-use-reuse" loop is cited by the World Economic Forum and MIT as the world's most successful example of a circular economy – a blueprint for newer battery technologies. It is also one of the pillars of the non-ferrous metals recycling industry represented by the Chamber.

The ILZSG Factbook confirms this assessment: in many countries more than 95% of lead-acid batteries are recycled – a remarkable result compared with many other materials. This cuts production costs, conserves natural resources and supports a circular economy.

Source: International Lead and Zinc Study Group, World Lead Factbook 2026, p. 60.

Toxicity and regulation – the two faces of lead

Lead is a toxic metal, and its uncontrolled release harms health (the nervous system, child development) and the environment. That is why the use of leaded petrol ended globally in 2021 – the culmination of a roughly 20-year UNEP campaign, expected to prevent more than 1.2 million premature deaths a year – and earlier lead was removed from paints, pipes and solders. Lead and its compounds are subject to the rigours of the EU REACH Regulation. The key contrast: the threat is not lead in the controlled, closed loop of batteries (where it is safely collected and remelted), but its dispersed former uses and informal, uncontrolled recycling in some regions of the world. A modern, regulated recycling industry is therefore not the problem, but the solution.

The ILZSG notes that over the past 50 years the use of lead in petrol, many paints and some water-distribution applications has fallen substantially, and stronger workplace, emission and exposure controls have reduced releases in many jurisdictions – although risks remain and vary by location. Lead can enter air, soil and water from natural processes and from human activities: mining and smelting, battery manufacture and recycling, legacy paint and contaminated dust, certain aviation fuels and the corrosion of lead-containing plumbing. Effective controls, monitoring and responsible recycling therefore remain essential throughout the value chain. In the EU, the REACH Regulation has restricted the use of lead shot in and within 100 metres of wetlands since 15 February 2023.

Source: International Lead and Zinc Study Group, World Lead Factbook 2026, pp. 41 and 59.

Lead and raw-material security

Unlike copper and aluminium, lead is not on the EU critical raw materials list – its supply is diversified and largely based on recycling, which increases the resilience of the supply chain. It nonetheless remains an economically important raw material, essential for the automotive industry and the backup power of critical infrastructure. Basing supply on the secondary loop makes lead a model example of a "recycled raw material": a country with modern processing capacity becomes largely independent of ore imports.

Poland

Poland in ILZSG statistics

Poland is a member government of the International Lead and Zinc Study Group – an intergovernmental organisation set up by the United Nations in 1959 and based in Lisbon; Poland’s representative serves as vice-chairperson of the Statistical and Forecasting Committee. In 2025 Poland produced 145 kt of refined lead – the 14th largest output in the world and the fourth in the European Union, after Germany, Spain and Bulgaria. Refined lead usage per capita in the EU-27 is 3.34 kg, twice the world average.

Source: International Lead and Zinc Study Group, World Lead Factbook 2026, pp. 1–3, 20 and 29.

The Polish context

Polish lead has two sources. Primary lead is obtained as a by-product of zinc processing (Huta Cynku „Miasteczko Śląskie", the ISP process producing both zinc and lead) and copper (KGHM, Głogów/Legnica). The second, now dominant, pillar is battery recycling: Orzeł Biały S.A. of Piekary Śląskie is Poland's largest producer of refined lead and the leader in recycling spent lead-acid batteries, supplying lead and alloys to battery manufacturers. The profile of Polish lead – processing and, above all, recycling – fits squarely into the circular economy.

Data and sources

Datasets

Every chart in this profile has table and source views and the buttons “Download CSV”, “Copy CSV” and “Cite”. The full list of datasets is below.

Figures in the tiles

Method notes

• The base year of this profile is 2025 – the latest year covered by the World Lead Factbook 2026. 2025 figures may be provisional or estimated.
• World refined lead production and usage were derived from China’s shares reported by the ILZSG (40%).
• Reserves, prices and stocks were read from the Factbook charts and rounded; approximate values are marked with “~”.
• Tiles carry a source and year tag; the same figure in a tile, the text and a table comes from a single record.

Bibliography

• International Lead and Zinc Study Group (2026), World Lead Factbook 2026, Lisbon. www.ilzsg.org
• U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries – Lead (reserves, closure of the last primary smelter in the USA).
• International Lead Association – lead-acid battery recycling in Europe, share of secondary production.
• Battery Council International – recycling rate and recycled content of batteries (USA).
• UNEP – global end of leaded petrol (2021).
• Commission Regulation (EU) 2021/57 amending Annex XVII to the REACH Regulation – lead in gunshot in wetlands (from 15 February 2023).

How to cite

Economic Chamber of Non-Ferrous Metals and Recycling, Knowledge base – Lead. https://igmnir.org/en/knowledge/lead/ (data as of 24 Oct 2026).

Source: International Lead and Zinc Study Group (2026), World Lead Factbook 2026, Lisbon, Portugal (www.ilzsg.org). This translation/adaptation was independently created and is not endorsed by the International Lead and Zinc Study Group. It should not be regarded as an official translation or adaptation by the ILZSG, and the Group assumes no responsibility for any errors or inaccuracies. 2025 figures may include provisional or estimated values.