Chinese car lust fuels battery trade in Kenya

[skids]

Athi River, Kenya - China's rapid expansion into Africa in search of fuel to feed its booming development needs is leaving a profound mark on the continent's economies, often in little noticed sectors.

...

Along with a readily apparent insatiable appetite for oil, surging demand from China's growing middle class for cars is driving another, less visible, but perhaps equally important, craving: lead for automobile batteries.

Once content to sell their stocks of used batteries to local auto parts shops for recycling, in recent months Kenyan junk merchants have entered the international marketplace lured by the high prices offered by Chinese dealers.

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As a result, the East African nation's informal scrap dealers are flush with newfound cash from the Orient while its automotive supply industry faces potential ruin.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=126&art_id=qw1146120841323A162

[phantom power]

1. I was talking about loading shotgun shells the other day...

and the guy I was talking with said that it doesn't pay to load your own shells anymore, because lead has become so expensive. It's been years, but I used to help my dad load our own shells.