World lead prices are so high,

[Carlos]

LINK to news report

(in part):

The New York Times (4/8, Kanter) reports from Edmondthorpe, England, "Thieves peeled long strips of lead from the roof of St. Michael and All Angels, until a barking dog sent them fleeing from this tiny Leicestershire village. But by then, they had left a hole of about 100 square feet in the top of the 800-year-old church." The Times continues, "For centuries, people have stolen religious artifacts in Europe, including chunks of religious buildings, but Britain is in the midst of an accelerating crime wave that some experts call the most concerted assault on churches since the Reformation." The Times adds, "Instead of doctrinal differences, the motivation is the near record price that lead - the stuff many old church roofs are made of - is fetching on commodity markets. ... Lead's price on global markets has rocketed sevenfold in the last six years, largely because of rising demand from industrializing countries like China and India. Centuries ago, its malleability made it a popular building material; now it is sought mainly for use in batteries for vehicles and backup power systems for computer and mobile phone networks. It is also used to make bullets and shot, cables and paints. ... Because of booming demand, new mines are opening in South America and Asia, where deposits are plentiful. There is also a growing business in recycling lead, mainly from used batteries (where 75 percent of lead ends up) but also scrap metal."

[SiG Lady]

Wow, yeh, I just contacted my gunsmith about our mutual bullet dealer's current rates, and they'd gone up YET ANOTHER $10 per 1K...!! Criminy! Not to mention the prices I saw at a local regional chain (that sells guns and ammo) earlier in the week...! Even my .22LR ammo had leaped up several dollars per box!!! GAH!!!!!!!

[JFlowers]

The price of lead on the commodity market is acting very strange. Last week it dropped 10% from $3,190 a metric ton, then fell another 2.2% on Monday and climbed 3.3% today. This is all down from a high of $4,150 in the Oct/Nov time frame. Compare that to $2,020 almost a year ago.