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.
Japan’s Marubeni boosts stakes in Australian coal mines
Japan’s Marubeni boosts stakes in Australian coal mines
Tokyo, 30 June (Argus) — Japanese trading house Marubeni has increased its stakes in two Australian coal mine projects to bolster coal supply for steelmaking, the company said today. Marubeni purchased an additional 4.7pc interest each in the Jellinbah East and Lake Vermont steelmaking coal mine projects from Queensland-based investment firm Zashvin. The transaction brings Marubeni's total interest in each project to 43pc and 38pc, respectively, it said. The expanded investment will boost Marubeni's overall equity coking coal output by 700,000 t/yr, bringing its total output to 6.7mn t/yr, a company representative told Argus. The company declined to disclose the breakdown by project. Marubeni will supply coking coal offtakes from the two mines to Japan, India and the domestic Australian market. It will adjust delivery volumes based on regional demand, the representative said. By Yusuke Maekawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Japan's Toyota starts building EV plant in Shanghai
Japan's Toyota starts building EV plant in Shanghai
Beijing, 27 June (Argus) — Japanese automaker Toyota started building an electric vehicle (EV) plant in Shanghai today, said the local government. Toyota established a subsidiary Lexus (Shanghai) New Energy in the Jinshan district of Shanghai in February to develop EVs and EV batteries. The company signed an agreement with the municipal government of Shanghai and the government of Jinshan district in April to move forward with this project. The plant aims to produce 100,000 EVs a year and to start delivering in 2027. Construction is expected to be completed in 2026. Toyota will be the sole owner of the new China-based firm — an unusual move as foreign automobile producers typically form a joint venture with a local car manufacturer. Tesla's Shanghai factory is the last wholly foreign-owned automaker in China. The Japanese firm's new venture in China and its moves in the US are part of the company's wider strategy to sell 1.5mn EVs by 2026. Its new Shanghai project aims to deliver its EV brand "swiftly" to Chinese customers. But Toyota's EV sales in China may face challenges in a highly competitive market, according to industry participants. China has more than 40 domestic new energy vehicle manufacturers. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Japan’s Australian iron ore imports fall on year in May
Japan’s Australian iron ore imports fall on year in May
Tokyo, 27 June (Argus) — Japan's iron ore imports fell by 16pc on the year to 7mn t in May, mostly because of lower shipments from the country's major suppliers including Australia. Japan's iron ore imports from its top supplier Australia fell by 22pc on the year to 3.3mn t, data released by the country's finance ministry on 27 June show. Purchases from Brazil, the country's second-largest iron ore supplier, fell to 2.4mn t, down by 22pc from a year earlier. Japan imports mostly agglomerated or non-agglomerated iron ore and Brazil is the largest supplier of the former, for which deliveries slightly fell by 1.4pc on the year to 430,611t. Imports from Canada more than doubled on the year to 719,535t. By Yusuke Maekawa Japan's iron ore imports 000t May '25 May '24 y-o-y % ± Australia 3,337 4,288 -22.2 Brazil 2,364 3,031 -22.0 Canada 720 336 114.2 US 0 0 0.0 New Zealand 0 80 -100.0 India 0 0 0.0 China 0 0 0.0 South Africa 405 491 -17.5 Russia 0 0 0.0 Mauritania 30 0 0.0 Chile 152 148 2.5 Peru 0 0 0.0 Oman 0 0 0.0 Others 0 0 0.0 Total 7,008 8,375 -16.3 Based on preliminary data Source: Japanese finance ministry Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Europe rare earths: Yttrium moves higher
Europe rare earths: Yttrium moves higher
London, 26 June (Argus) — Most European rare earth import prices were unchanged this week on a lack of spot trade, but yttrium oxide moved higher on very tight availability and stronger pricing in China edged neodymium oxide slightly upward. No further export licenses from China for heavy rare earth sales to Europe were heard granted this week, after a small number were heard approved in the previous ten days. One trader said it expects that large players willing to share information on end usage with China will get export licenses fairly smoothly, but noted that many of these large players are not willing to do so. Light rare earths The weekly assessment for 95.5-99.9pc neodymium oxide edged higher on the lower end to $66-74/kg cif Europe today, from $65-74/kg on 19 June, lifted by a small uptick in Chinese prices caused by anticipation of a potential fall in ore feedstock supplies from mining quotas. The assessment for 99pc neodymium metal was flat at $81-86/kg cif Europe on limited trading activity. Other light rare earth prices were unmoved this week, including 95.5-99.9pc cerium oxide which stayed flat at $1.85-2.20/kg cif Europe. Heavy rare earths Yttrium oxide moved up this week to $50-70/kg, from $45-65/kg previously, on indications that business was no longer possible below the $50/kg mark. Users of the product for certain applications were willing to pay significantly above the assessment range. The cif Europe assessment for min 99.5pc dysprosium oxide was unchanged at $650-850/kg today on lack of spot trade. Terbium oxide was steady at $2,300-3,400/kg cif on business heard done in the upper half of the range. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
