Specialty and minor metals
Overview
As demand for semi-conductors, touch-screens and other highly engineered products continues to grow, manufactures rely on the Argus metals price data and reliable market intelligence to track volatility and specialty materials and manage their impact on production costs.
Argus covers electronic, light and high-temperature metals, as well as specialist alloys and rare earths, through Argus Non-Ferrous Markets, Argus Battery Materials and the Argus Rare Earths Analytics service.
Electronic metals
Argus delivers transparent price data, market news and analysis across base metals, minor metals and battery materials to allow downstream participants to achieve a sustainable supply of electronic metals and reduce their exposure to price risk, all while researching and tracking individual materials in their components.
- Arsenic prices
- Bismuth prices
- Gallium prices
- Germanium prices
- Indium prices
- Selenium prices
- Tantalum prices
- Tellurium prices
- Zirconium prices
Light metals
Argus is the leader in light metals price data and serves the most active consuming regions globally in aerospace, automotive and other highly engineered industries. Manufacturers of alloyed materials and light metals benefit from both primary and scrap material coverage in the Argus suite of products.
High-temperature metals
Some materials necessitate higher temperature and corrosion resistance beyond that offered by carbon steel, these often rely on a proprietary blend of alloyed materials. Argus worked closely with manufacturers to develop the Alloy Calculator tool, a one-stop solution for estimating the current value of raw materials in their specific composition to price even the most specific blends of alloys to be priced in primary and scrap form.
- Chromium prices
- Cobalt prices
- Hafnium prices
- Molybdenum prices
- Niobium prices
- Rhenium prices
- Tantalum prices
- Tungsten prices
- Tungsten outlooks
- Vanadium prices
Highlights of specialty metals coverage
- Independent reference prices for highly illiquid markets and niche materials
- Brings transparency to markets with few global suppliers but increasing global demand
- Exchange data with 30-minute delay standard and the option to add real-time
- Twice weekly global bulk alloys, noble alloys and steel feedstock prices
- Comprehensive global electronic metals price assessments
- High-temperature metals price assessments, including full scope of tungsten coverage with optional short and long-term forecasting
- Light metals including a suite of titanium and aerospace-grade price assessments
- Rare earths prices assessments with short and long-term forecasts
- Electronic vehicle and aerospace raw materials coverage, including highly engineered components and structural materials
- Coverage of supply chain issues, including demand, capacity, risks to responsible sourcing and supply
- Alloy Calculator tool allows easy identification of cost implications for material substitutions in any alloyed metals
- Synthetic prices can be created in the Alloy Calculator to provide material value in the absence of spot market assessments
Latest specialty and minor metals news
Browse the latest market moving news on the specialty and minor metals industry.
Viewpoint: Indian FeCr to face pressure in 1Q 2025
Viewpoint: Indian FeCr to face pressure in 1Q 2025
Mumbai, 27 December (Argus) — India's ferro-chrome market is expected to remain under pressure in the first quarter because of muted spot demand as a result of sluggish stainless steel consumption. Producers will likely keep ferro-chrome output low in the coming months. The market is widely expected to remain sluggish until after the lunar new year holiday in February. There is little to no optimism that spot liquidity and supplier profit margins will increase in the short term, because demand from the stainless steel industry is weak. Prices for Indian high-carbon ferro-chrome 60pc fluctuated significantly in 2024. Prices hit a high of 120,000-121,000 rupees/t ($1,400-1,415/t) ex-works on 21 February, bolstered by tight ore availability and rising feedstock costs. But weak demand for stainless steel, both locally and globally, kept many market participants on the sidelines, causing prices to fall sharply in April-August, reaching Rs102,000-104,000/t ex-works on 20 August. Prices have since remained around this level, with the Argus assessment on 12 December at Rs104,000-106,000/t. Low demand from the stainless steel sector has effectively removed any possibility of a price recovery in the near term. Spot liquidity has been markedly lower than normal and a rebound is not expected. Volumes signed on long-term contracts for delivery in 2025 have also taken a dip and are at around 70-80pc of the volumes signed in 2023 for 2024 delivery. Weaker ferro-chrome demand and prices have led to lower production. India's ferro-chrome output declined from 1.3mn-1.4mn t in 2023 to an estimated 1.2mn t in 2024, and monthly consumption in the country is estimated to have decreased from 30,000-35,000t to 20,000-25,000t. Consumption is unlikely to rebound significantly until global and local stainless steel demand recovers. Suppliers typically turn to the export market when there is a supply surplus, with exports from India typically accounting for around 50pc of the country's output. But India's ferro-chrome exports are also falling. Shipments declined by 38pc year on year to 402,817t in January-September, compared with 648,475t over the same period a year earlier. Macroeconomic headwinds have dented global demand for stainless steel, and in turn ferro-chrome. European and Chinese demand was high in the first half of 2024 but has slowed significantly since then, with European buyers shifting their focus towards cheaper Kazakh material. Increased freight rates, port congestion and higher production costs have further weighed on exports. In addition, China has increased production and its domestic output now exceeds domestic consumption. This has weighed on domestic prices since August and increased supply in the export market. The market is unlikely to pick up until ferro-chrome inventories at China's port are consumed, a source told Argus . Decreasing demand and prices have made some suppliers' margins negative, forcing some to cut output by 50-60pc and others to shift their focus to producing manganese alloys, which offer stronger margins despite higher production costs. The cost of production for high-carbon ferro-chrome in India is around Rs116,000-119,000/t ex-works. Only producers with their own captive chrome ore mines are making a profit at present, sources said. Indian ferro-chrome suppliers also face issues with deteriorating chrome ore grade, which has led to increased production costs and lower-quality ferro-chrome output. The deterioration in ore quality is particularly evident in state-owned Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) auctions — the premium for OMC's 50-52pc ore over its 48-49.99pc ore rose to above Rs1,000/t in early December. The higher premiums for high-grade ore, coupled with the drop in demand, have limited ferro-chrome producers' appetite to participate in OMC's auctions, as supply of high-grade ore is limited and only available at high premiums while low-grade ore is unfavourable as its consumption raises production costs. A lack of interest in OMC's monthly tender boosted this bearish sentiment and created further downward pressure on India's ferro-chrome prices. By Deepika Singh Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Viewpoint: Real, tariffs to hit Brazil steel imports
Viewpoint: Real, tariffs to hit Brazil steel imports
Sao Paulo, 26 December (Argus) — Steel importers in Brazil are likely to face a tougher market in 2025 as government measures and the Brazilian real's depreciation to the US dollar make products from abroad less attractive. Brazilian steel importers are concerned that tariff-quota and antidumping policy changes made this year by the federal and state governments could raise costs for importing cargoes in 2025, likely exacerbating the impacts of a sharply depreciated Brazilian real relative to the dollar. The concerns come as US president-elect Donald Trump is already raising global trade tensions, with specific focus on Mexico, Canada and China, that could unleash waves of dueling trade measures. After seeing strong import growth in the post-Covid-19 recovery, Brazil steel importers are fretting they may lose momentum. Brazil's steel imports year-to-date November rose by nearly 24.4pc to 5.6mn metric tonnes (t) from the same period a year earlier. They are expected to end the full year 2024 up by 24pc, according to steel association Aco Brasil, after climbing by 50pc in 2023. Apparent consumption rose by 9.6pc to 24mn t in the 11 months through November, while production increased by just 5.6pc to 31.17mn t from a year earlier. Even with a 28pc depreciationof the real to the dollar in the 12 months through 24 December, prices for dollar-denominated steel imports still have a cost advantage over domestically produced steel. But that advantage is narrowing as the real weakens, with the price difference from imports over the domestic market narrowing to just $112/t in the latest assessment for hot-rolled coils (HRC) from $172/t in mid-October . "The dollar's [appreciation to the real] is messing up imports," one market participant told Argus , saying a wider price advantage for importers was necessary to offset issues like the exchange rate risk and the shipping time. Market participants also cited rising borrowing costs in Brazil as an additional challenge for imports, as many buyers rely on financing to purchase material from abroad. Brazil's central bank on 11 December unexpectedly hiked its target interest rate by a full percentage point to 12.25pc , citing the country's uncertain fiscal situation, accelerating inflation and challenging external conditions. Importers recently expressed concerns over Santa Catarina state's decision to no longer grant tax incentives for imports of six different steel and iron products for commercialization or resale in 2025. Although the timeline for implementing the measure was postponed to July and could face changes, importers remain concerned and are monitoring any possible reviews of the decision, sources told Argus . Santa Catarina's main port, Sao Francisco do Sul, accounted for over one-third of every steel product that is imported to Brazil from January to September, according to data from the country's distributors association, INDA, published in September. On the federal front, the government is likely to announce new and renewed antidumping measures for products coming mainly from China, Brazil's largest steel supplier. Another obstacle for importers would be a possible review of the tariff system for steel imports, which was implemented in June 2024 and led to additional tariffs of up to 25pc. The measure proved mostly ineffective at curbing imports into Brazil, and the industry group Aco Brasil said it would ask for adjustments . Despite the challenges, there is still room for importers to bring material to Brazil , as the country lacks steel to supply its domestic demand, another market participant said. "Brazil will always need imports because it still lacks some key home-made products to feed its market," the participant said. By Carolina Pulice Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
China's GFEX launches polysilicon futures contracts
China's GFEX launches polysilicon futures contracts
Beijing, 26 December (Argus) — China's Guangzhou Futures Exchange (GFEX) has launched futures contracts and options for polysilicon today. This is the third contract that GFEX has launched, following the launch of its contracts for silicon metal in December 2022 and lithium carbonate in July 2023. The launch of polysilicon contracts is aimed at easing a supply surplus and ensuring market development, given increasing new capacities at polysilicon producers and lower-than-expected demand from the downstream silicon wafer industry in the past two years, according to market participants. The new contracts are for benchmark N-type polysilicon and substitute P-type polysilicon. The exchange has set a premium of 12,000 yuan/t ($1,644/t) for the N-type over the P-type. It is offering seven contracts starting from June 2025 until December. The most-traded June contracts for N-type polysilicon on the GFEX closed at Yn41,570/t on 26 December, up from the launch price of Yn38,600/t, with trading volumes totalling 301,655 lots, equivalent to around 905,000t. GFEX has established delivery points for the new contracts in eight provinces, including Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang. Output and consumption in these regions account for 93.1pc and 91pc of the country's total output and consumption respectively, according to GFEX. South China-based GFEX launched in April 2021 and is partly owned by China's four operational futures exchanges — the Shanghai Futures Exchange, Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange, Dalian Commodity Exchange and the China Financial Futures Exchange — with each holding a 15pc stake. Market reaction Some market participants expect the new futures contracts will ease pressure from ample spot inventories and shore up spot market sentiment in the coming months. But the market has yet to see immediate effects on the first trading day. Argus -assessed domestic prices for 5-5-3 grade silicon metal — a key feedstock in the production of silicon powder, which is the feedstock for polysilicon — held at Yn11,200-11,400/t delivered to ports on 26 December, unchanged from 24 December given limited buying interest from consumers. The most-traded February contracts for 5-5-3 grade silicon on the GFEX closed at Yn11,190/t on 26 December, down from Yn11,585/t on 25 December. China is the world's largest polysilicon producer, producing 1.74mn t during January-November, up by 33pc from a year earlier, according to data from the China nonferrous metals industry association (CNIA). It has an production capacity of over 2mn t/yr, according to industry estimates. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Japan’s crude steel output to recover in FY2025: IEEJ
Japan’s crude steel output to recover in FY2025: IEEJ
Tokyo, 26 December (Argus) — Japan's crude steel output is expected to recover during April 2025-March 2026, given higher output in wider domestic industries, according to government affiliated think-tank the Institution of Energy Economy Japan (IEEJ). The country's crude steel output will increase by 4.1pc on the year to 86.5mn t in 2024-25, according to the IEEJ's projection on 24 December. This will mark the first year-on-year growth in four years. A recovery is mostly attributed to an uptrend in wider domestic industrial sectors including automobile, electric and industrial machinery, IEEJ said. It sees domestic car output increasing by 1.8pc to 8.9mn units from a year earlier. IEEJ did not provide further details, but it suggested that expanding investment for digital and green transformation will underpin the steel demand throughout the period. The think-tank also predicts that the country's steel product exports will increase by 1.2pc on the year following an upward trend in the global manufacturing sectors. Japan delivered around 32mn t of steel products overseas during 2023-24, according to the industry group the Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF). The country's crude steel output has been sluggish throughout 2024, partly owing to weak demand from the construction and automobile sectors. Rising material costs and labour shortages have led to fewer construction projects in the country, weighing on steel demand. Operational suspensions at major auto manufacturers including Toyota and Daihatsu, following alleged false reporting on safety test results, also pressured steel demand. This partially led to the tenth consecutive month of year-on-year decline in booked orders of ordinary steel for car use in October, according to JISF. By Yusuke Maekawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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