Why is Lead so CHEAP?

[sw282]

i think l understand basic economics of supply and demand. When demand is greater than supply the price will naturally be HIGHER. Thats what puzzles me about the price of Lead... Demand and price for ammo is through the ROOF.. Yet the price of lead is ridiculously LOW... l have never seen it this low @ app 80cents a pound, give or take a few pennies. Since 2010 it was always around a dollar. Now its 20% less. The last USA lead mine closed about 10 yrs ago.. The demand for ammo seems to be highest in my lifetime NOW. Anyone have an opinion or answer for the low prices of lead??

Thanks-282

[Walks]

Huh ?!?

[RP]

Less is being used in other areas such as WWs batteries fishing weights I think have gone to zinc is my thinking.

[Winger Ed.]

You think its cheap now?
It wasn't too long ago the scrap yards paid 10 cents a pound, and sold it for 25.
Its a commodity, the price floats up & down constantly, just like oil, gold, etc.


For Lead being such an influence on ammo prices-
If a 230gr ball loaded is really only about 200 gr. of pure Lead, and lead is $1. a pound--
you'll get about 28 or so that can be made with a pound of Lead.

That's barely over 4 cents per bullet for a big fat .45.
9mm is around half of that for a 120 gr hardball.

Cheap, junkie .45ACP loaded ammo is right at $1. each.
The really good stuff is almost $3.

Lead being $1 a pound isn't that big of a deal in the scheme of things.
Production rates are the big issue, not the scrap price of what ammo is made from.

[Rcmaveric]

Price of ammo is high due to taxes and additional fees (blame goverment). Not from the price of base components.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

[Gewehr-Guy]

A few years back China was buying lots of lead, now not so much

[BattleRife]

Demand and price for ammo is through the ROOF.. Yet the price of lead is ridiculously LOW...

From the US Geological Society's summary page on lead:

By the early 2000s, the total demand for lead in all types of lead-acid storage batteries represented 88% of apparent U.S. lead consumption. Other significant uses included ammunition (3%), oxides in glass and ceramics (3%), casting metals (2%), and sheet lead (1%).

The demand for ammunition is irrelevant. If people aren't driving cars or running electric forklifts, consumption of lead goes way, way down.

[waksupi]

Lead is a significant byproduct of many mining operations.

[Conditor22]

Lead's bought for .10¢ and sold for $1.50 at my local scrap yard.

occasionally they will have linotype pigs and rolls of solder for the same price that finds it's way home with me.

[gpidaho]

Lead is a significant byproduct of many mining operations.

As in Laser Cast Bullets a subsidiary co. of a silver mining corp. Gp

[kevin c]

As in Laser Cast Bullets a subsidiary co. of a silver mining corp. Gp

According to this Wikipedia article, the silver in lead ore can be worth more than the lead itself.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gale...d_ore_deposits

[GregLaROCHE]

I collect all I need for free from my club’s range. For everyone who buys it, I hope the price stays low. Most of all, I hope the government, doesn’t decide to put an environmental tax on all sales of it. The way things are going, that could happen.

[quilbilly]

Lead is a significant byproduct of many mining operations.

Lead and silver are often found in the same deposits. The more silver being mined, the more lead will be found.

[jdfoxinc]

Doe Run mining company is still lining lead ore in the Missouri mine. They had to shut down the primary smelter in Herculaneum. They ship out lead concentrate only to out of country smelters.

[GregLaROCHE]

Doe Run mining company is still lining lead ore in the Missouri mine. They had to shut down the primary smelter in Herculaneum. They ship out lead concentrate only to out of country smelters.

I hate when our natural ressources leave the country, for someone else to profit from.

[kreuzlover]

We can probably thank the last president we had for lead being phased out of a lot of things, like wheel weights.

[GregLaROCHE]

We can probably thank the last president we had for lead being phased out of a lot of things, like wheel weights.

Someone probably got a kickback from the zinc producers.

[Hanzy4200]

Like Winger Ed said, it flows up and down like every other metal. My yard is selling for $.60 a lb. Was $.50 a year or so ago. Like anothers mentioned also, lead is a common by product of other mining operations. And to my understanding it isn't very difficult to extract like many others.

[Doughty]

I believe also that the ability to recycle lead is improving. Relatively little lead is actually lost, just changes it's form.

[Rcmaveric]

Lead's bought for .10¢ and sold for $1.50 at my local scrap yard.

occasionally they will have linotype pigs and rolls of solder for the same price that finds it's way home with me.

You sir are a lucky man. Why kind of life as thou lived to gain such holy karma?? Teach us master! Side note i am in the market for some tin rich copper doped babbit.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk