Indium: Trading
Ingots and sputtering targets, sold off agency prices
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.Indium has no exchange contract. Refiners sell ingots and ITO sputtering targets to display, solder and semiconductor makers under contracts that reference agency prices. USGS cites Argus quotes for 99.99% metal, free on board US warehouse and duties unpaid in Rotterdam. Asian Metal tracks Chinese trade. Korea and Japan matter both as refiners and as recyclers of ITO scrap. With no transparent market, buyers rely on long relationships and hold inventory against licensing risk.
Where it is bought (buyers)
- ITO target makers and display panel makers in China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan
- Solder, alloy and thermal-interface makers in the US, Europe and Asia
- InP wafer and laser makers for fibre optics and data centres
- The US imported about 220 t in 2025, all its estimated consumption (USGS)
Where it is sold (sellers)
- Chinese zinc smelters (760 t in 2025), under export restrictions since February 2025
- Korea Zinc and other Korean refiners (180 t), the largest source of US imports
- Japanese, Canadian, French and Belgian refiners
- Recyclers of ITO scrap in Japan and Korea
Exchanges and benchmarks
| Venue | Contract | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| None today | No LME, CME or MCX contract | China's Fanya Metal Exchange in Kunming traded indium from 2011 until its collapse in late 2015 |
Contract types
- Bilateral spot deals priced off PRA quotes
- Annual or quarterly term contracts between refiners and ITO target makers
- Tolling and closed-loop recycling contracts (target maker returns spent targets)
- Chinese export licences under the February 2025 restrictions
Top trading houses
- Specialist minor-metal traders and merchants (for example Lipmann Walton & Co), mostly private and members of the MMTA
How prices are discovered
- Argus: 99.99% indium, FOB US warehouse and duties unpaid Rotterdam (used by USGS)
- Fastmarkets (formerly Metal Bulletin): Rotterdam in-warehouse and China prices
- Asian Metal and Shanghai Metals Market: Chinese domestic prices