Source: General Administration of Customs' Website

According to customs statistics, 1.146 million tons of lead concentrate and ore (hereinafter referred to as lead ore) were imported into China from January to October this year and worth of USD 1.37 billion in all, respectively increased by 8.4% and 3.7%, but the average import price thereof was USD 1197/ton, decreased by 4.3% as compared with the same period last year.

I.       Main features of lead ore's import into China from January to October this year

(I)     Lead ore is mainly imported via the general trade. From January to October this year, 1.043 million tons of lead ore were imported into China via the general trade, increased by 10.1%, which accounted for 91% of the total import volume into China as compared with the same period.

(II)    The U.S.A, Peru, Australia and the European Union are the main sources for import of lead ore. From January to October this year, 195,000 tons of lead ore were imported from the U.S.A, increased by 3.5%; 185,000 tons from Peru, increased by 16.7% and 107,000 tons from Australia, decreased by 9.3% and 101,000 tons from the EU, decreased by 5.6%, all of which added up to 51.3% of the total import volume into China as compared with the same period.

(III)   Lead ore imported by private enterprises accounts for half of the total, but state-owned enterprises' import volume dramatically declined. From January to October this year, private enterprises imported 578,000 tons of lead ore, increased by 47.3%, which accounted for 50.4% of the total import volume during the same period; while state-owned enterprises imported 544,000-ton lead ore, decreased by 15%, which accounted for 47.5% of the total.

II.      Major reasons for steady growth of import for lead ore in China recently

In recent years, with the rapid growth of automobile, communications and transportation, construction, telecommunications and power industry in China, the demands for lead and zinc in the markets are gradually increased. In 2007, lead and zinc in China were respectively consumed by 2.54 million and 3.75 million tons, but the output of domestic lead ore were apparently declined. 27 lead-zinc mining areas and smelting enterprises in China jointly carried out limited production and output reduction during the dull season from July to September, the decrease rate of which reached 10% or so. In addition, under the influence of Typhoon Hagupit, Hechi in Guangxi, acclaimed as "the hometown of non-ferrous metal in China", was suffered from sharp rise of water level, so the Hechi government had to order all the smelting enterprises to halt production, thus around 200,000 tons of lead and 300,000 tons of zinc were restrained. Although the demand for lead ore in the domestic markets was declining, the output reduction thereof outshot the function of import, so the import of lead ore has still been keeping in a rapid growth recently, in particular this July.

III.    Matters of concern

Lead, as a kind of heavy metal, would result in great damage to the environment in the smelting process. At present, advanced lead production technology and equipment have been rapidly developed in China, but as driven by the interest of provincial economy, many lead smelting enterprises still adopt out-of-date technological equipment that has been eliminated by decree. So, the damage arising from to the environment could by no means be ignored.

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