Lead consumption to rise despite controls
20 December 2006
China's lead consumption may rise by nearly 10% in 2007 on the back of soaring vehicle sales, the South China Morning Post reported. This comes despite pollution-cutting restrictions on battery-powered bicycles and motorcycles. The price of lead has already risen 58% this year on the London Metal Exchange, with contracts reaching a high of US$1,785 per tonne last week. Alongside fears of raw material shortages, an analyst at China's state-owned research group, Antaike, predicted that national lead consumption would rise by more than 200,000 tonnes next year. China produced more than 10 million electric bicycles in 2005, up 30% on 2004. Each bicycle uses about 7.5 kilograms of lead, compared with 9kg for a passenger car battery.