Currently, demand for lead was highly related to the development of the battery market. In which, demand for transportation-used battery has promoted the development of waste lead. The report from the International Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG) stated that, production volume of lead increased by 9.8% to 40,000 tons in 2011 globally. Production volumes varied in different countries last year. Australia, Peru and Canada down by 19.3%, 12.2% and 9.9% respectively, while China, India and Mexico up by 24.7%, 21.6% and 17.2% respectively. In 2011, China represented over 51% of the output of the world. For production volume of refined lead, China market also showed strong growth momentum, with an increase of 10.7% to 4,648,000 tons.

Currently, market demand for lead has been growing. It was mainly driven by the development of electric cars since 2008. Last year, production volume of the automobile industry increased by 3.2% and reached 80 billion units. As the world’s largest automobile manufacturer, production volume in China has grew by 0.8%. Although new model vehicles only contributed to a small share in the lead electric car market, replacement battery will be a new growth driver for the lead market in the future. In 2010, replacement market has contributed to 82% of sales in the battery market, while original equipment manufacturers only contributed to 18%