lead at 16 month high, page-4

Lead smelters in Shaanxi province have been shut down due to high lead concentrations in local children. There may be more closures as the overall extent of the problem is uncovered. We expect a general theme of closing polluting facilities in China to grow. Pollution has been an unhealthy byproduct of most growth spurts, and as we have said before this is an issue China’s government has to get on top of. Lead’s price and stocks have risen in a pattern akin to zinc with which it is usually a co-product; price gains for lead may hold due to the health hazard in China.