If lead prices are...............
- Thread starter clayking
- Start date
While the price is about the same today as a year ago, over the last 5 years the price has increased dramatically, and the price has been very unstable and (I believe) unpredictable over the last year.
I'm just speculating since I am not involved in any way in the ammunition industry, but I would suspect that the manufacturers are:
1) Producing products from raw materials that they bought at the higher prices and wish to recoup those costs.
2) Are not convinced of the stability of commodity prices at even this new higher level.
3) Are taking it in the shorts on transportation costs.
I'm just speculating since I am not involved in any way in the ammunition industry, but I would suspect that the manufacturers are:
1) Producing products from raw materials that they bought at the higher prices and wish to recoup those costs.
2) Are not convinced of the stability of commodity prices at even this new higher level.
3) Are taking it in the shorts on transportation costs.
Last edited:
wiki says the supply of lead obtained by mining could run out in 18 years. i'd think it's inevitable that prices will continue to increase as it becomes more rare and eventually runs out.
edit to add: i don't think lead is the culprit though, when it comes to increasing ammo prices. all the good metals are going to china, now that they're undergoing some sort of renaissance/modernization, and our dollar is in the crapper (thanks to some really lousy govermenting these last 8 years). so anyway, copper is probably the prime culprit. need copper to make brass.
or else the chinese are buying up all the ammo so they can take over the world soon.
edit to add: i don't think lead is the culprit though, when it comes to increasing ammo prices. all the good metals are going to china, now that they're undergoing some sort of renaissance/modernization, and our dollar is in the crapper (thanks to some really lousy govermenting these last 8 years). so anyway, copper is probably the prime culprit. need copper to make brass.
or else the chinese are buying up all the ammo so they can take over the world soon.
Lead is also taking a recent dive because Europe is doing all it can to minimize lead in manufactured goods. Therefore lead is no longer as necessary in on e large market.
And China can only make so many toys . . .
So therefore it leaves us with our lead bullets - well except of course for California. And anyone else who jumps on that bandwagon.
And China can only make so many toys . . .
So therefore it leaves us with our lead bullets - well except of course for California. And anyone else who jumps on that bandwagon.
Even if lead prices stay the same manufacturing costs due to energy price increases and the cost of transport with diesel approaching $5 a gallon means the prices will continue upward.
What Wiki says is pretty much irrelevant since anyone can sign up and say almost anything. Can anyone actually believe that the world supply of lead is ending in 18 years. Kind of like the 70's when experts all over the world were telling us we were entering an new ice age in 20 years.
What Wiki says is pretty much irrelevant since anyone can sign up and say almost anything. Can anyone actually believe that the world supply of lead is ending in 18 years. Kind of like the 70's when experts all over the world were telling us we were entering an new ice age in 20 years.
carguychris
New member
That, and ammo suppliers have been eating some of their profits so that their prices don't fluctuate too suddenly.
From a recent Dallas Morning News article:
"We were paying $1 a pound for copper two years ago. Now we're paying $3 per pound," said Brian Grace, a spokesman for Minnesota-based Alliant Techsystems, the military's biggest producer of small-caliber ammunition. "Not all the costs are being passed on. We've tried to soften the blow with supply chain management and improved efficiency."
Translation into plain English by your truly: "We're cutting our profits so our competitors don't walk away with our business."
More here:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/dmn/stories/080907dnmetammo.37f6a54.html
The price of lead, nickel and other metals have declined a good deal since the highs were put in. Third world countries (emerging markets) are slowing, China's stock market is down 50%, often a sign of a slowing economy. The decline in the metals are signaling such a slowdown. I suspect that lead bullets will decline soon as soon as the reduced prices are built into the system. No doubt, other cost such a energy will continue to push overall prices upward......................ck