Susan Gordon, Business Reporter

A spike in world lead prices last year has pushed the cost of motor-vehicle batteries sold in Jamaica to twice the price over six months, and also forced the local retail battery market to consolidate.

"Anyone who bought a battery a year ago and needs to buy one now, cannot buy it," said Junior Williams, manager of battery retailer M&B Parts Finder Limited, who said that normally, price adjustments would have been around 10 per cent.

"There has been a well over 100 per cent increase over the last year," added Neil Crum-Ewing, general manager of Tropical Battery, one of the two major importers of industrial batteries left in the business.

In fact, Crum-Ewing estimates that prices for batteries over the last 18 months have jumped by roughly 150 per cent worldwide.