What Happens When The Last US Lead Smelter Shuts Down?
You may
already know this, but the US's last lead smelting facility in Herculaneum, MO
will be shutting down due to pressure from the EPA. While the majority of
lead smelting happens in other countries, many people are concerned about how
to the loss of the last US facility will affect lead prices and availability
for ammunition.
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| Hornady LNL AP |
I
recently came across a blog post from the guys at Sierra Bullets. They
address how the plant shut down will affect them specifically:
"We
have had many customers contact us about the closing of the last primary lead
smelting facility in the USA. This facility is operated by Doe Run and is
located in Herculaneum, MO and is just about a 3 hour drive from our facility
in Sedalia, MO.
The
main question asked is “Will this shut down your supply of lead.” The
answer to that is no. First, Sierra buys lead from several different
vendors to maintain constant supply. Second, this facility only smelts
primary lead or lead ore. This is lead ore that has just been brought out
of the earth. Sierra uses no primary lead at all and never has, so we use
nothing directly from this facility. The lead we buy from Doe Run comes
from their recycling facility in Boss, MO that is about 90 miles away from the
smelter that is closing.
The
facility we buy from is still going strong and delivering to us as
scheduled. The lead from this facility is from recycled lead, mostly
coming from car batteries. This is a continuing “in and out” cycle for
them and the smelter closing will not affect this facility.
Our
supply should not be in jeopardy and we do not anticipate any changes in our
supply chain at this time. Could the lack of primary lead create a little
more demand for recycled lead? Sure, but how much is unknown. Could
this increase in demand also create an increase in price? Sure, but
again, by how much is unknown at this time.
There
are many other primary lead smelters in the world and so the flow of primary
lead will not be shut off. Where there is a need for primary lead, I am
sure there will be a salesman more than happy to pick up the business.
In
short, we do not see any reason for alarm. We expect our supply to
continue and keep feeding our production lines which are still running 24 hours
per day to return our inventory levels to where they should be.”
It would
appear for the time being that Sierra will not have supply issues. Where
the other major manufacturers get their lead from and whether lead smelters in
Mexico and other countries can make up the slack remains to be seen.
What are
your thoughts on the potential lead shortage? Let me know in the comment
section below:
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