Cadmium: Trading
Ingots, sticks and balls on bilateral contracts
What this tab covers How and where it is bought and sold: who buys and sells, exchanges and benchmarks, contract types, the big trading houses and how prices are discovered.Cadmium has no futures contract. It trades as ingots, sticks or balls under bilateral contracts between zinc smelters, traders and battery or solar makers. Fastmarkets publishes the benchmark free-market price for 99.95% metal in 10-tonne lots, CIF global ports. The market is tiny: Tilton and Guzmán estimate world cadmium sales of about $43 million in 2014 (pdf p. 24). Large buyers such as CdTe panel makers sign supply deals directly. When prices are weak, smelters may store cadmium rather than sell it.
Where it is bought (buyers)
- CdTe powder makers supplying First Solar
- Industrial NiCd battery makers in Europe, the US and Asia
- Pigment and plating firms
- US imports of unwrought cadmium in 2021-24 came from China (50%), Germany (33%), Australia (6%) and Peru (6%) (USGS)
Where it is sold (sellers)
- Zinc smelters in China (9,500 t), Korea (4,300 t), Canada, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mexico and Russia
- European smelters in the Netherlands, Norway, Bulgaria, Poland and Germany
- Battery recyclers in the US and Europe
Exchanges and benchmarks
| Venue | Contract | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| None | No LME, CME or MCX contract | Bilateral market; Tilton and Guzman put 2014 world sales at about $43 million |
Contract types
- Annual and spot contracts for ingots, sticks or balls, often in 10 t lots
- Supply agreements between smelters and CdTe producers
- Hazardous-waste and recycling contracts for NiCd batteries and residues
Top trading houses
- Trafigura (owner of Nyrstar smelters) and specialist minor-metal traders; volumes not published
How prices are discovered
- Fastmarkets free-market price for 99.95% cadmium in 10 t lots, CIF global ports (used by USGS)
- Asian Metal and Shanghai Metals Market: Chinese prices