Tellurium: Trading
From copper refiners to specialist purifiers, by contract
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.Tellurium has no exchange. Copper refiners sell copper telluride or crude tellurium to specialist refiners. They in turn sell high-purity metal and compounds to solar and thermoelectric makers under contracts. Large CdTe module makers tend to secure supply directly. Agencies such as Argus publish assessments; USGS uses Argus for the US warehouse (99.95%) and Rotterdam (99.99%) prices. The 2025 gap between those two prices shows how regional the market can be.
Where it is bought (buyers)
- First Solar, mainly through 5N Plus refining contracts
- Thermoelectric module makers in China, Japan, Russia and the US
- Steel and copper-alloy makers for free-machining grades
- US imports 2021-24 came from Canada (64%), the Philippines (14%), Japan (8%) and Germany (5%) (USGS)
Where it is sold (sellers)
- Chinese copper refiners and primary mine (800 t in 2025), under end-user export checks
- Japanese, Russian, Swedish and Canadian copper refiners
- US refineries in Texas and Utah sell copper telluride for refining abroad
Exchanges and benchmarks
| Venue | Contract | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| None | No LME, CME or MCX contract | Bilateral market |
Contract types
- Long-term supply contracts between refiners and CdTe makers (5N Plus with First Solar)
- Tolling and refining agreements (Rio Tinto's Kennecott output refined by 5N Plus)
- Spot deals priced off Argus quotes
- Closed-loop module recycling agreements
Top trading houses
- Specialist minor-metal traders (members of the MMTA); Fortis Metals has published market balances
How prices are discovered
- Argus: 99.99% Rotterdam in-warehouse and 99.95% FOB US warehouse (used by USGS)
- Fastmarkets and Asian Metal: Rotterdam and China prices