# Lead: Criticality

Abundant and widely mined, so not on the EU list

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lead/criticality/

What this tab covers How exposed economies are to a supply disruption: the EU, US and India listings, the concentration score, and a quantified exposure for the US, EU, India, China, Japan, Latin America, the Middle East and Australia. Where the EU scored it, a chart of supply risk against economic importance, with import reliance, recycling input and substitutes.

#### Exposure by region

| Region | Exposure | Share of world output | Share of world imports | Share of world exports | Net trade (US$) | On own critical list | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **US** | Medium | 6.2% | 12.7% | 1.6% | −$822.9 m | Yes | Mines about 280 kt but has no primary refinery, so it exports concentrate and has 33% net import reliance for refined lead (2025); secondary lead covers 70% of use; lead was added to the 2025 critical minerals list (USGS 2026). |
| **EU** | High | 3.3% | 29.5% | 25.6% | −$385.4 m | No | Not on the EU critical list (supply risk 0.1); import reliance is only 21% for ore and 6% for refined metal, and recycling is 83% of end-of-life input (EU CRM 2023). |
| **India** | Medium | 4.8% | 13.2% | 12.7% | −$89.5 m | No | Mines about 220 kt through Hindustan Zinc, holds 1.9 Mt reserves, and is the world's largest importer and exporter of refined lead by value (2024); lead is not on India's 2023 critical list. |
| **China** | Medium | 40.6% | 6.3% | 1.0% | −$388.2 m | No | Mines 1.9 Mt, about 42% of the world, and refines about 43% of world lead (USGS 2026; EU CRM 2023), while importing 6.3% of 2024 refined lead. |
| **Japan** | Low | 0.0% | 0.9% | 1.9% | +$67.7 m | No | A small player, with about 2% of world refined lead output (EU CRM 2023 data) and not among the top refined lead traders in 2024 (Comtrade). |
| **Latin America** | Medium | 18.0% | 3.6% | 3.6% | −$15.6 m | no list | Peru (290 kt), Mexico (200 kt) and Bolivia (100 kt) are major mine producers (2025e) and lead concentrate exporters, together about 46% of 2024 concentrate export value (USGS, Comtrade). |
| **Middle East** | Low | 2.7% | 0.4% | 2.4% | +$134.5 m | no list | Iran mines about 70 kt and Turkey about 70 kt (2025e, USGS); the rest of the region has little lead mining. |
| **Australia** | Low | 9.8% | 0.0% | 9.7% | +$677.6 m | No | Holds the largest reserves (34 Mt) and mines about 480 kt (2025e), exporting concentrate and 9.7% of 2024 refined lead exports (USGS, Comtrade). |

 Exposure rating: **High** when the region is a net importer whose import share is at least three times its share of world output (or, for farm goods, it produces under 70% of what it consumes); **Medium** for other net importers (or 70-95% self-sufficiency), raised to High when world supply is highly concentrated in another country; **Low** for net exporters or self-sufficient regions. Net importer status uses tonnage where reported, otherwise value. Output: World Mining Data, 2024. Trade: UN Comtrade 2024 (EU = sum of member states, including intra-EU trade). Critical lists: US 2025, EU 2024/1252, India 2023, China 2016 strategic minerals, Japan METI, Australia 2024.

Lead is abundant and widely mined. The EU scores supply risk at 0.1 and economic importance at 4.2, and does not list it. EU import reliance is only 21% at the mining stage and 6% at refining. The US added lead to its critical list in 2025; India's 2023 list leaves it out. The main concern is environmental, not supply. There is no safe exposure level, and leaded petrol harmed whole generations (Conway). US bans on lead paint, and battery recycling rules, more than halved lead lost to the environment from 1970 to 1993-94 (Tilton).
 EU 2023 Not critical US 2025 list Yes India 2023 list No Production HHI 1,952 moderately concentrated

#### EU 2023 assessment

Chart: EU 2023 criticality: supply risk against economic importance
 Each dot is a material assessed by the EU in 2023. The shaded corner is the critical zone (supply risk ≥ 1.0, economic importance ≥ 2.8). Lead: supply risk 0.1, economic importance 4.2. EU import reliance, extraction 21% EU import reliance, processing 6% EU recycling input rate 83% US net import reliance, 2025 33% share of apparent consumption

#### Substitutes

Plastics in cable covering and cans; tin in solder for potable water; lead-free solders in electronics; steel and zinc in wheel weights

## Other sections

- [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lead/index.md)
- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lead/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lead/correlation/index.md)
- [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lead/extraction/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lead/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lead/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lead/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lead/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lead/movement/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lead/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lead/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lead/links/index.md)