Lead Ingot
Covered in 1 MetalsCost.com News Intelligence article, most recently on August 29, 2026.
Overview
Lead ingot is refined lead metal cast into standardized bars for trading and industrial use. LME contract rules require a minimum 99.97% purity for the base "Refined Pure Lead" grade, with a 99.995% grade also traded, and cap cast weight at 55 kg per ingot so pigs stay manageable to handle and stack. Lead reaches ingot form two ways: primary production, smelting and electrolytically refining lead concentrate (mainly galena, PbS), or secondary production, remelting and refining scrap lead recovered from spent batteries and other lead-bearing waste.
Who Consumes It
Battery manufacturers are by far the dominant buyer, casting lead ingot into the grids and plates of lead-acid batteries for vehicles, backup power/UPS systems, and industrial forklifts — a use that accounts for the large majority of global lead demand. Smaller volumes go to ammunition makers, radiation-shielding fabricators, weights and ballast, roofing sheet, and cable sheathing.
Sources
- LME refined lead purity and 55kg ingot weight limit — Chemical composition - Lead (2024)
