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
Spotlight content
Browse the latest thought leadership produced by our global team of experts.
CATL, BHP team up to spur mining electrification
CATL, BHP team up to spur mining electrification
Beijing, 14 July (Argus) — China's largest battery manufacturer CATL has signed a non-binding deal with Australian diversified mining group BHP to develop battery solutions for heavy equipment and railway locomotives used in mining activity. The two firms aim to collaborate in areas such as the electrification of mining equipment, construction of fast-charging infrastructure, and energy storage and battery recycling. They plan to accelerate the electrification of BHP's mining operations and to create a replicable "green transformation model" for the global mining industry, CATL said on 14 July. Global demand for critical minerals such as lithium and nickel has been increasing with the rise in renewable energy technologies. This in turn has spurred the expansion of the mining industry, which is energy-intensive and emissions-intensive, said CATL. BHP aims to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in its operations by 2050. CATL's total battery capacity is projected to reach 700-1,000 GWh/yr in 2025, which would make it the world's first TWh-level battery manufacturer, according to market participants. The firm has been accelerating expansions outside China in recent years, with projects in Germany, Hungary, Spain, and Indonesia. CATL has been trying to expand its presence in the conventional energy and mining sectors. It is building a 40 GWh/yr factory in Dongying, which is the largest oil refining city in China, with the aim of helping Dongying evolve into a zero-carbon city. China's sales of new energy trucks have increased in 2025 , mainly on the back of government subsidies, overtaking LNG trucks in displacing diesel vehicles. The country's sales of new energy trucks in January-June reached about 72,000 units, more than 2½ times year-earlier levels. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Australia’s South32 reviews Mozambique Al operations
Australia’s South32 reviews Mozambique Al operations
Sydney, 14 July (Argus) — Australian metal producer South32 is reviewing the value of its 580,000 t/yr Mozal aluminium smelter in Mozambique, southeast Africa, and the plant's production target, over electricity supply issues. South32 expects to partially write down the value of Mozal in its upcoming financial report for the 2024-25 fiscal year ending 30 June. It is also reviewing Mozal's production target for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The target has not been released yet. Mozal runs on electricity supplied by Mozambique generator Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB), which is partly owned by the country's government, and South African utility Eskom. South32's power supply agreement with the two providers will end in March 2026, the company said on 14 July. It has been negotiating a new agreement with HCB, Eskom and Mozambique's government for six years. But it has not been able to secure a deal. South32 may need to halt production at Mozal if it cannot sign a new supply agreement by March 2026, the company said. The company has faced operational challenges in Mozambique since late 2024. It withdrew Mozal's 2024-25 production guidance in early December 2024 because of civil unrest in the country. But the company later reset it to 350,000t, on an equity basis. South32 produced 314,000t of aluminium at the smelter , on an equity basis, in 2023-24. Mozal is not the only smelter facing electricity issues. Aluminium smelters consume large amounts of energy and global producers often face supply challenges. UK-Australian producer Rio Tinto is seeking the Australian government's support for its 600,000 t/yr Tomago smelter in New South Wales, Australia, because of energy costs. Rio Tinto also ran its 335,000 t/yr Tiwai Point aluminium smelter in New Zealand at a reduced rate over the second half of 2024, in response to an electricity demand reduction request from New Zealand utility Meridian Energy. By Avinash Govind Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Section 232 imports avoid planned US-Canada tariff
Section 232 imports avoid planned US-Canada tariff
Houston, 11 July (Argus) — The newly announced plans for a 35pc tax on Canadian imports to the US will not apply to goods already subject to Section 232 tariffs, according to a White House official. Steel and aluminum imports have been subject to 50pc Section 232 tariffs since 4 June, and copper and its derivatives will be subject to a 50pc tariff beginning 1 August. The official expects imports from Canada currently tariffed at a rate of 25pc to increase to 35pc, excluding US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement-compliant goods, energy and potash, but said no final decision by President Donald Trump had been made. By Jenna Baer Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Brazil gov must boost EV demand: Li miners
Brazil gov must boost EV demand: Li miners
Sao Paulo, 11 July (Argus) — At least four suppliers in the Brazilian spodumene market voiced interest in federal policies to boost demand for electric vehicles (EVs) to create a consolidated end-to-end battery supply chain in Brazil, the companies said at a conference in Minas Gerais. In an initiative led by Companhia Brasileira de Litio (CBL), executives for AMG Lithium, Lithium Ionic and PLS all pleaded for the Brazilian federal government to implement policies to boost EV demand — which would support the Brazilian spodumene market — CBL's chief executive Vinicius Alvarenga said. CBL owns the only lithium carbonate refinery in Brazil and it believes the country has the potential to have an end-to-end battery supply chain. Currently, Chinese refineries receive 99pc of all lithium chemicals produced in Brazil. "The only thing stopping Brazilian companies to make battery cells is the lack of demand from the regional market," Alvarenga said. "We need to pressure the government to incentivize the installation of lithium-based energy storage systems and to give more benefits to EV buyers." Alvarenga mentioned WEG — a multidisciplinary technology company — and Moura, the largest battery manufacturer in Latin America, as firms well suited for the job. "Brazil can be one of the world's top players in the energy transition landscape," said Leandro Gobbo, vice-president for Brazilian operations at PLS. "We have world class ore, the expertise and the technology to do so — we only lack government incentives." At the bottom of the cost curve, Brazil has one of the cheapest hard-rock lithium operations in the world, rivaling China and beating Australia and many African producers. Although China holds its place as the home to the cheapest hard-rock lithium projects in the world, Brazilian miners are also operating at a profit despite the low price environment, mainly because of cheap labor. Around half of the world's hard-rock lithium miners are currently operating at a loss. All three commercially producing spodumene companies in Brazil — Sigma Lithium, CBL and AMG — are sticking to their investment guidance and expansion plans despite falling prices. "There is an opportunity here at this low-price environment," said Blake Hylands, chief executive of Lithium Ionic, who owns one of the largest undeveloped spodumene sites in Brazil. "We need to move projects forward at this time so Brazil can progress in the global stage." The average labor costs in Brazil are significantly lower than in places like Australia, which is also dealing with a workforce shortage in mining, according to Gobbo, and where employee wages have pushed most spodumene operations to operate at a loss as prices bottom. "Brazil will never beat China in capital costs and internal demand," Alvarenga said. "But despite taking a hit at those two, Brazil is the best place in the world to produce spodumene." Brazil has a combination of benefits that are not seen elsewhere, such as low royalties, a specialized workforce, solid internal and external logistics, market transparency, legal stability, high ESG and human rights standards, and the cheapest electrical energy in the world, Alvarenga said, which is mostly renewable. "If we look at other countries with cheap [spodumene] production, we don't see that," said Ligia Pinto, vice-president of external affairs at Sigma Lithium, Brazil's top lithium concentrate producer. "Our low costs do not harm human rights." The so-called Lithium Valley — a lithium rich region in southeastern Brazil — has a production capacity of 320,000 metric tonnes (t)/yr of lithium concentrate between CBL and Sigma Lithium, the country's top producer. AMG Lithium, which operates further south, bumps up Brazil's total current capacity to 410,000t/yr. "This is a country that we can trust," Hylands said. "We are taking longer than China, but that's okay, because everyone takes longer than China." By Pedro Consoli Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
