America, Latin refined production

Refined lead is produced in a great many countries, but only in 30 or so on any scale. Important dififerences exist in the structure of production between tbe primary and secondary sectors. In the Western World there are about 50 primary lead smelters with a combined capacity of little over 3.1 million tpy however, the ten largest (three each in Europe and North America, and two apiece in Australia and Latin America) account for almost 50 per cent of this. The remainder of refined lead output is produced by 170 or so secondary plants, with a total capacity of approximately 2.75 million tpy. Despite their smaller average scale, the ten largest secondary plants (all of which are in the USA or Europe) still contribute about one-quarter of this total. ... 

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