Yttrium: Characteristics
From fuel cells to lasers, the purity that matters
What this tab covers The supply and physical characteristics of the commodity. Supply: current production, inventories and stocks, capacity utilisation, geographic and producer concentration, how fast supply responds to price, the project pipeline and capital spending, and logistics and export flows. Material: the physical and chemical properties that set its grade, price and end uses (for example purity and conductivity for metals, API gravity, sulfur and energy content for fuels, moisture, protein and fibre quality for crops).Supply volume characteristics
| Characteristic | Figure | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current production volume | about 10,000-15,000 t Y2O3 equivalent in rare-earth concentrates (2025e) | USGS estimates China produced most of it and Burma a significant share. China's mining and separation quotas for 2025 were not published. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Inventory and stock levels | not published | China holds state rare-earth reserves, but sizes are not disclosed. US consumers relied partly on stockpiled compounds; US apparent consumption fell to about 300 t in 2025 as imports dropped after Chinese export controls. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Capacity utilisation | not published | No yttrium capacity data exist. Outside China there were no fully commercial separation plants for yttrium in the US in 2025. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Geographic and producer concentration | China about 100% of separation; extraction China 68%, Australia 10%, US 9%, Burma 8% (EU CRM 2023) | HHI for extraction is about 4,900 on these shares (derived). Company data are not published; Chinese state rare-earth groups dominate. | EU CRM 2023 (HHI derived); USGS MCS 2026 |
| Supply elasticity | very low outside China | Yttrium is mined only with other rare earths (companionality about 35%). New separation plants take several years to build and qualify, so the 2025 price jump in Europe did not bring quick supply. | Nassar et al. 2015; USGS MCS 2026 |
| Project pipeline and CapEx | Rainbow Rare Earths Phalaborwa about 213 t/yr Y2O3 planned; MP Materials heavy rare-earth separation | Phalaborwa (South Africa) recovers rare earths from phosphogypsum. MP Materials received a $150 million Department of War loan (August 2025) for heavy rare-earth separation at Mountain Pass. | Modern Mining (25 Nov 2025); USGS MCS 2026 |
| Logistics and export flows | China exported about 1,600 t Y2O3 equivalent (2025) | Main destinations were Japan, Korea, the US and Germany. Burmese clay concentrates cross the land border into China for separation. Chinese export licensing from April 2025 is the chokepoint. | USGS MCS 2026 |
Material characteristics Metal / hard commodity
Yttrium is sold mostly as oxide. Its value lies in ceramics and crystals: yttria stabilises zirconia for fuel cells, thermal barrier coatings and dental ceramics, and yttrium aluminium garnet hosts laser ions. Very high purity is needed for phosphors, lasers and semiconductor chamber coatings, where trace rare earths spoil performance.
| Property | Value / specification | Why it matters | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purity / grade | Y2O3 99.999% min (benchmark); metal 99.9% min | Sets the published price series ($9/kg oxide, $40/kg metal FOB China in 2025) | Argus via USGS MCS 2026 |
| Zirconia stabilisation | about 3 mol% Y2O3 for structural ceramics; 8 mol% for fuel-cell electrolytes; 7-8 wt% in thermal barrier coatings | Locks zirconia in a tough, ion-conducting crystal form; calcium or magnesium oxide substitutes give lower toughness | USGS MCS 2026; standard ceramics literature (indicative) |
| Melting point of Y2O3 | about 2,425 C | Suits crucibles, coatings and plasma-resistant chamber parts in chip making | CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics |
| Laser host (YAG) | Y3Al5O12; Nd:YAG emits at 1,064 nm | Standard crystal for industrial, medical and defence lasers | Standard optics literature (indicative) |
| Phosphor host | europium-doped yttrium oxide gives red emission | Used in lamps and displays; demand fell as LEDs replaced fluorescent lamps | USGS MCS 2026 (qualitative) |