Eastern Bloc mine production

Information is available on Eastern Bloc mine and smelter capacities from various sources, but this is often dated and gives little guide to current output levels. However, production statistics (of a fashion) are made available by the Chinese government, and by several Eastern European... 

China s entry into the world of lead and zinc could not have been more different from the circumstances in the other countries in the former Eastern Bloc. Prior to the mid-1980s China s refined lead production was no more than 225 kt/a and zinc output was around 300 kt/a. From the mid-1980s, however, there was, a sharp increase in mine production of both metals that, initially, was much greater than the rise in refined output. The development of new mines was the direct result of official policy to promote the domestic lead and zinc industries to... 

The primary driver for anything related to the mining industry is, of course, consumer demand for products that make use of the commodities that are mined. This driver has been hugely present in the last 100 years, as the western democracies first ascended to first world status, followed by the Eastern bloc countries after the collapse of Communism in the early 1990s, and then by the ascendency of China and other BRIC nations. 

A useful summary of levels and trends in mine and smelter production, and of developments in refined metal consumption is provided by the industry metal balance. The balance can be drawn up for particular areas or regional markets, but most commonly covers the Western World, see Table 2.2. It pulls together the various elements of Western World lead supply and demand (including, separately, net trade with the Eastern Bloc in concentrates and refined metal), and focuses attention on the overall balance between them, with metal surpluses or deficits expressed in terms of an apparent change in stocks over a given period (usually a quarter or a year). In this way, the prevailing market position can be (fairly) accurately assessed and compared with developments in price and other market indicators (like reported stocks, turnover, etc). The construction of a metal balance also often forms the basis of forecasts of future trends in supply, demand and price (see Chapter 16). 

World lead mine output (including that of the Eastern Bloc) has increased fourfold since the turn of the century, but this growth has occurred at an uneven pace due to the impact of economic cycles, technological advances, worid wars and structural changes in the lead industry itself. Thus, while production doubled during the 1920s, to over 1.6 million tons, the world... 

Data on production levels in individual Eastern Bloc countries is rather incomplete, but several broad features can be identified. Firstly, these coimtries have rapidly expanded mine production in the post-war period, as Fig. 8.1 suggests. The Eastern Bloc accounted for about 30 per cent of total world production in 1990. This compares with an average share of 25 per cent during the 1960s and 1970s, and as little as 10 per cent in 1950. 

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