The spot price of lead on the London Metal Exchange (LME) recently surged to US55 cents per lb. in response to tight metal supplies around the world. Production disruptions and low stocks on the LME have forced the price upwards. Lead averaged 30.5 cents in London in 1989, 30 cents in 1988 and 27 cents in 1987.
European demand for the base metal is reported to be strong, while demand in North America is lagging.
Lead has a variety of applications, the most prominent being in the manufacture of batteries (for automobiles, for example).
In the U.S., Metals Week reports a Washington, D.C.-based lobby group, the Environmental Defense Fund, is calling for a US$2,500- per-ton (about US$1.25 per lb.) excise tax on both domestic and imported lead.
The lobby group, concerned about lead pollution, wants the money placed into a fund to pay for removal of lead from paint and other products.
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