Scandium: Trading
Offtake deals instead of a market
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.Scandium has no exchange and almost no spot market. Sales are negotiated between a handful of producers and alloy or fuel-cell makers, often as offtake agreements tied to project finance. Asian Metal publishes indicative Chinese prices. Nassar and co-authors note that companion metals often trade privately, without transparent pricing (pdf p. 2). In 2025 governments became key buyers. The US Defense Logistics Agency procurement could be worth up to $40 million, and Canada signed an offtake with Sorel-Tracy.
Where it is bought (buyers)
- Fuel-cell makers and aerospace alloy producers in the US, Europe and Japan buy oxide or master alloy on contract
- US imports of oxide were about 4 t in 2025e, 89% from Japan and 11% from China (2021-24 shares, USGS)
- Governments: US Defense Logistics Agency stockpile purchases
Where it is sold (sellers)
- Chinese producers of oxide, metal and master alloy
- Rio Tinto from Sorel-Tracy, Canada (offtake agreement with the Government of Canada)
- Sumitomo Metal Mining from Japan using Philippine feedstock
Exchanges and benchmarks
| Venue | Contract | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| None | No exchange contract | All trade is bilateral; no Indian venue lists scandium |
Contract types
- Multi-year offtake agreements tied to qualification of a user's product
- Small spot lots of oxide (5-100 kg) and metal (1-10 kg) priced by negotiation
- Government stockpile contracts with minimum commitments
Top trading houses
- No major trading house is prominent; specialist minor-metal and rare-earth traders handle spot lots
How prices are discovered
- Asian Metal ex-works China assessments for oxide, metal and Al-Sc alloy
- Published government contract values (DLA)
- Benchmark Mineral Intelligence and Argus rare-earth commentary