Following Indium, Bismuth Becomes the 2nd Minor Metal Investment Hotspot in China

SHANGHAI, Apr. 10 (SMM) – Following indium, bismuth is becoming the second minor metal pulling in millions on investment, which is behind a 7% rise in Chinese prices in the past month, Shanghai Metals Market has learned.

SMM’s spot prices of refined bismuth are 136,500-137,500 yuan ($22,142-22,304) per tonne today, compared to an average of 128,000 yuan per tonne a month ago.

``Increasing investment demand is the underlying reason of the price gains while recent environment renovation in Hunan province only aided to expectations of higher prices for the time to come,’’ Wang Baoqing, SMM’s minor metals analyst said.

Investors have built up considerable stockpiles of the cosmetics and pharmaceuticals material at Fanya Metal Exchange in Southwest China’s Yunnan province.

Fanya’s bismuth stocks climbed by 2,144.61 tonnes to 7,274.6 tonnes in this year’s first quarter, according to the exchange data.

Local government in Hunan’s Yongxing county, a major bismuth production region in China, started a new round of environmental inspections on March 12, which would last till late April. Some of the bismuth producers there reportedly halted production for the period.