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
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Gulf shipping crisis disrupts India’s Mn alloy exports
Gulf shipping crisis disrupts India’s Mn alloy exports
Mumbai, 5 March (Argus) — The mounting war in the Middle East has disrupted trade flows for India's manganese alloy sector, creating one of the most challenging operating environments in recent years with shipping suspensions, rising freight and mounting cost pressures. India typically supplies 500,000-600,000t of manganese alloys annually to the UAE, Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Most carriers have halted services to Europe, north Africa and the Middle East because of security threats and soaring insurance premiums, stopping shipments from Indian exporters. Monthly flows of around 40,000–50,000t have now effectively stopped, and shipments have been completely stalled for nearly 15 days. Freight is the single largest disruption. The diversion of vessels around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Suez Canal for shipments to Europe has further strained logistics because of security and insurance complications. Ships that once completed two voyages in 60-70 days can now complete only one, tightening vessel availability and extending delivery timelines for bulk commodities. The strait of Hormuz, long considered more influential than many stock exchanges in shaping global commodity sentiment, is again acting as a major volatility trigger, lifting fuel-related and freight-linked costs, an exporter told Argus . Imported manganese ore costs are also rising, with freight from some origins climbing from $50-60 to $100-125 per container, while other routes are now near $1,000 per container. At the producer level, margin pressure is intensifying. Rising energy costs are eating into profitability while freight volatility directly undermines export competitiveness. The weakening rupee offers some relief to exporters through higher realisations, but the simultaneous rise in import costs for manganese ore and energy inputs offsets this benefit. The sudden freeze could leave excess material trapped in the domestic market, adding downward pressure on prices even as producers face cost inflation. Buyers are delaying contracts because of uncertainty about price direction amid the volatility, leaving much of the market in a wait-and-see mode. The sector faces a prolonged stretch of logistical strain, with exporters recalculating margins and delivery risks and carriers avoiding key shipping corridors. There are expectations that freight costs may rise further. Container rates that previously ranged $1,000-1,600 could rise as high as $4,000 a box if the conflict continues, some market participants said. Freight rates could rise by 30-50pc if the war continues, traders said. The loss of Middle Eastern demand and the likely buildup of domestic supply could exert downward pressure, making any immediate price increase in manganese alloys unlikely, traders said. The broader outlook remains fluid, with volatility set to persist, while efficiency, captive power and strategic risk management become more critical in the long term. By Deepika Singh Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Brazil’s Jan PPI contracts on fuels, food
Brazil’s Jan PPI contracts on fuels, food
Sao Paulo, 4 March (Argus) — Prices paid to Brazilian producers fell by 4.33pc in January from a year earlier, mostly pushed down by the food sector and fuels, according to government statistics agency IBGE. The decline in the producer price index (PPI) slowed from a 4.51pc contraction in December but quickened from 3.36pc in November and smaller contractions the prior two months. The disinflation in PPI suggests that consumer price inflation, which accelerated to 4.44pc in January from 4.26pc in December, may soon be easing. The food sector, which accounted for more than half of the total PPI index result, fell by 9.84pc in January from a year earlier, after a 10.48pc annual loss in December, extending a negative streak begun in September, IBGE said. Sugar products and pork were among the main negative drivers, while falling sugar prices were mainly affected by a weakening dollar to the Brazilian real over the last year. IBGE's research manager Murilo Alvim said. As for crude and biofuels, producer prices for the sector fell by 7.64pc in the last 12-months, following a 5.64pc annual loss in December and marking an eight-month low, IBGE data show. Metallurgy producer prices fell by 4.91pc in January from a year earlier, following an 8.06pc annual loss in December. The index ticked up by 0.3pc from December. Brazil's PPI posted 10 consecutive monthly declines from February-November 2025, IBGE said. Copper and gold contributed the most to inflationary pressures within metallurgy in the monthly comparison, adding up to its 2.73pc. As for chemicals, sulfur-based fertilizers and other imported feedstocks raised producer prices to a 1.7pc gain from December, Alvim said. PPI measures average prices offered by suppliers to domestic producers of goods and services without considering taxes and freight costs. By João Curi Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Sulphur chokepoint threatens battery metals
Sulphur chokepoint threatens battery metals
London, 4 March (Argus) — The widening conflict in the Middle East threatens to squeeze the supply of sulphur through the strait of Hormuz, with potential long-lasting second-order effects on key battery metals production. The most immediate industrial vulnerability lies in sulphur produced in Mideast Gulf countries — and by extension sulphuric acid — a critical input for copper and cobalt leaching in the central African copperbelt, nickel leaching in Indonesia and lithium extraction and refining globally. Roughly half of global seaborne sulphur trade transits the strait of Hormuz. With Middle Eastern refinery operations disrupted and shipping largely halted, global sulphur availability has tightened sharply. Africa is particularly exposed. Nearly all sulphur imported by southern African buyers last year originated in the Middle East. Argus assessed spot sulphur prices at the key hub of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, at $615-630/t fca on 3 March, an increase of just $20/t since 27 February, as stocks in the port are ample. But the structural vulnerability is clear. Delivered trucking costs from Dar es Salaam to Kolwezi in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are about $280/t. That implies delivered sulphur prices approaching $900/t dap Kolwezi this week. At typical 3:1 conversion ratios, that suggests sulphuric acid costs nearing $300/t, much higher than other regional benchmarks. Sulphur fob Middle East prices were assessed at $494-496/t. Both prices had experienced a slight dip ahead of the conflict but have jumped in the initial days of the war. Copperbelt heavily impacted The central African copperbelt imports roughly 2mn t/yr of sulphur, producing around 6mn t/yr of sulphuric acid for oxide copper leaching. An additional 2.5mn t/yr of acid is generated by regional copper smelters processing concentrates. Higher acid prices directly raise copper production costs in one of the world's fastest-growing supply regions. The same belt is also the centre of global cobalt production. The DRC accounts for roughly 70pc of global mined cobalt supply. Major producers include Glencore, whose Mutanda and Kamoto operations produced around 40,000t of cobalt in 2024, and China Molybdenum (CMOC), whose Tenke Fungurume and Kisanfu mines together produced more than 55,000t of cobalt last year. But the DRC has room to manoeuvre in the cobalt markets, as it has imposed an export quota on producers since late last year. There is probably a significant production overhang in the country itself, so a loosening of the policy could be used to shore up market supply in the event of a tight squeeze. The mechanism that shuts down global trade is not necessarily naval blockades but the withdrawal of war risk insurance, Robert Friedland, the founder of Ivanhoe Mines, noted this week. Seven of the 12 members of the International Group of P&I Clubs have issued cancellation notices for war risk coverage in the Mideast Gulf, extending beyond the strait of Hormuz itself to Iranian waters and the Gulf of Oman. Nickel mines and lithium refineries exposed Sulphuric acid also plays a critical role in the wider battery metals supply chain. It is a key reagent in pressure acid leach (HPAL) operations used to produce nickel from laterite ores in Indonesia, now the world's dominant source of battery-grade nickel, producing more than 50pc of global supply. Several large Indonesian HPAL projects consume millions of tonnes of sulphur annually to generate acid for leaching operations. Indonesian nickel mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) producers have ceased offering long-term contractual material to assess the potential impact of sulphur supply disruptions. Fuel impacts in Indonesia could also be acute. Indonesia's crude supply from the Middle East passes through Hormuz and makes up around a fifth of national demand, energy minister Bahlil Lahadalia said on 3 March. Sulphuric acid is also widely used in lithium extraction and processing. Hard-rock spodumene concentrate is typically converted into lithium chemicals using sulphuric acid roasting, while several emerging direct lithium extraction and brine conversion routes also depend on large volumes of sulphuric acid. A sustained rise in sulphur prices therefore risks feeding directly into global battery metal production costs. Again, Africa is most exposed, but a recent lithium concentrate export ban in Zimbabwe may actually relieve the pressure on other mines in the region. Australia, the world's largest lithium spodumene producer, receives most of its sulphur from Canada, so should remain far more insulated. That said, the second-largest supplier is Qatar, albeit by some distance. General inflationary pressures brought on by an extended crisis can and will affect the Chinese refining industry, which was already struggling with margin pressure from growing spodumene prices and could emerge as the weak link in the lithium supply chain. Lithium refining is an energy and reagent-intensive process. Elevated LNG and power costs in Asia, combined with rising sulphur and sulphuric acid prices used in the conversion of spodumene into lithium chemicals, could significantly increase operating costs for converters. At the same time, demand uncertainty or weaker downstream battery markets could limit refiners' ability to pass those costs on. China accounts for roughly 80pc of global lithium chemical refining capacity, meaning that any sustained pressure on Chinese converters would have disproportionate consequences for global lithium supply. By Thomas Kavanagh & Fenella Rhodes Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Aluminium Bahrain issues force majeure on shipments
Aluminium Bahrain issues force majeure on shipments
London, 4 March (Argus) — Bahrain-based smelter Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) has declared force majeure on its aluminium deliveries due to shipping disruptions through the strait of Hormuz since the start of the US/Israel-Iran war, the company has confirmed. The force majeure is solely in relation to shipment delays through the strait of Hormuz, and is not a result of a 1 March attack on Bahrain's Mina Salman port, Alba said. Civil defence teams were carrying out procedures to control a fire resulting from an Iranian attack on a maritime facility near Mina Salman port on the evening of 1 March, Bahrain's interior ministry said. Alba produced a record-high 1.623mn t of aluminium last year, narrowly beating its previous record from a year earlier. Almost all Middle Eastern aluminium producers have been affected by the growing conflict in the region. Norwegian aluminium producer Hydro announced on 3 March that its Qatar-based joint venture Qatalum has initiated a controlled shutdown of its aluminium operations, and other producers in the region are said to be stockpiling metal while shipping through the strait of Hormuz has stopped. Some are in a position to truck material to alternative ports, although at significant cost of time and expense. By Jethro Wookey Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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