Selenium: Trading

Term contracts and agency prices, but no exchange

There is no exchange contract for selenium. It trades through bilateral deals between copper refiners, specialist processors and consumers, often under term contracts. Price-reporting agencies such as Argus and Fastmarkets assess free-market prices for 99.5% material in US and Rotterdam warehouses. Nassar and co-authors note that companion metals lack the transparent markets of copper or nickel, and deals are often private (pdf p. 2). Japanese, Belgian and German refiners sell high-purity grades. Buyers in glass and manganese care more about purity and reliable delivery than about hedging.

Where it is bought (buyers)

• Chinese manganese electrolysis plants and glassworks (China took 28.5% of world imports by value in 2024)
• Indian glass, pharmaceutical and feed makers (13.8% of world imports in 2024)
• US buyers (7.4%), importing mainly from the Philippines, Mexico, Chile and Poland (USGS)
• Feed premix and fertiliser makers in Europe and China

Where it is sold (sellers)

• Japanese copper refiners (16.6% of world exports by value in 2024)
• Philippine (13.9%), Chinese (11.4%), Belgian (8.0%) and Canadian (7.6%) refiners
• Hong Kong re-exporters (13.6%)
• Russian, Mexican, Polish and Serbian refiners

Exchanges and benchmarks

Contract types

• Term contracts between refiners and large users (manganese, glass)
• Spot deals priced off PRA assessments
• Sales of selenium dioxide and other compounds at negotiated premiums

Top trading houses

• Specialist minor-metal traders (MMTA members); refiners such as Umicore sell directly

How prices are discovered

• Argus: 99.5% selenium, FOB US warehouse and Rotterdam in-warehouse (used by USGS)
• Fastmarkets: selenium assessments
• Asian Metal: Chinese prices