China’s indium spot market thins as suppliers hike offers

SHANGHAI, Jun 29 (SMM) – Chinese indium buyers cooled down from the feverish purchasing enthusiasm seen earlier this week as suppliers raised their offers, SMM learned.

SMM assessed refined indium price at 1,800-1,850 yuan/kg as of Friday June 29, up 30 yuan/kg from a week ago. Offers in the international market were heard at $270-300/kg, flat week on week.

International buyers held back from purchasing as Chinese export prices were higher than in the domestic market. However, exporters held their offers firm on rising purchasing costs.

This led to a poor performance in realised export transactions. But demand from the international market sustains due to limited low-priced resources beyond China.

Supply of crude indium was tight this week as the intensive environmental reviews limited the production at crude indium processors. Sellers were reluctant to let their cargoes go and offered at 1,720-1,750 yuan/mt this week, compared to traded prices at 1,680-1,730 yuan/mt as of Friday.

The rising temperature is likely to weigh on refined indium. We expect indium prices to be steady with a possibility to inch up in anticipation of an increase in export orders.