Leading lead producers worldwide 2022, by production output

Glencore was the leading producer of lead metal in the world in 2022, at nearly 192,000 metric tons.

The global lead market

Lead is a crucial component in many industrial processes. The main usage of lead is in battery production. As the importance of larger and more efficient batteries increases over the years, the value of lead has also grown. In 2022, South Korea was the leading lead exporter, with an export value of about 805 million U.S. dollars. During the same period, Australia exported lead and lead products worth about 780 million U.S. dollars as the world's second-largest exporter.

Glencore

Based in Baar, Switzerland, and founded in 1974, Glencore plc is a leading integrated producer and marketers of valuable commodities. Initially, the company started as a commodity trading unit, which over the years acquired various mining and commodity processing companies worldwide. The company’s portfolio contains zinc, copper, and lead processing and trading. Over the past decade, Glencore's revenue has grown, peaking at over 255 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. The company's Energy Products and Metals and Minerals segments were the two main revenue streams of Glencore as of 2022. As one of the major lead processing companies in the world, Glencore's lead production amounted to almost 192,000 metric tons in 2022, down from almost 298,000 metric tons in 2015.