Bismuth Prices Experienced a Correction [SMM Bismuth Spot Weekly Review]

SMM March 28 News: This week, the bismuth market experienced a price correction. As the week approached month-end, market transactions noticeably cooled down. Manufacturers are still striving to maintain bismuth shipment prices, but based on transaction data, bismuth prices show a downward trend, albeit with a relatively small magnitude. By the end of this week, the mainstream price of SMM bismuth ingots was 152,000-154,000 yuan/mt. According to customs data, China's bismuth trioxide exports in February 2025 were 418.92 mt, a significant MoM decrease from January's 748.5 mt. China's exports of unwrought bismuth and scrap in February 2025 were 35.11 mt, also a significant MoM decrease from January's 222.3 mt. China's exports of wrought bismuth and bismuth products in February 2025 were 4.01 mt, still showing a significant MoM decrease from January's 70.82 mt. Many market participants noted that after the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs jointly announced on February 4, 2025, that in accordance with the Export Control Law of the People's Republic of China, the Foreign Trade Law of the People's Republic of China, the Customs Law of the People's Republic of China, and the Regulations on the Export Control of Dual-Use Items of the People's Republic of China, and to safeguard national security and interests and fulfill international non-proliferation obligations, the State Council approved the implementation of export controls on tungsten, tellurium, bismuth, molybdenum, and indium-related items. The export controls on bismuth mainly involve metallic bismuth and its products (including but not limited to ingots, blocks, beads, granules, powders, etc. (refer to customs commodity codes: 8106101091, 8106101092, 8106101099, 8106109090, 8106901019, 8106901029, 8106901099, 8106909090)). After the export control announcement, the MoM significant decrease in China's bismuth-related product exports in February was expected and reasonable. Moreover, exports in March are also likely to continue to decline. From the current bismuth market prices, although bismuth product exports have significantly decreased overall, refined bismuth market prices experienced a rapid and substantial increase in March. From around 90,000 yuan/mt at the end of February, prices rose to around 155,000 yuan/mt by mid-March. Market participants stated that the overall price increase of bismuth in March was mainly due to three reasons. First, after the export control announcement, the overseas bismuth market, interpreting the policy, reached a consensus on the future tightness of bismuth resources in the overseas market, leading to a shift in supply-demand relations and strengthened speculative sentiment, causing rapid price increases in the overseas market and boosting bullish sentiment in the domestic market. Second, domestic bismuth raw material resources began to tighten, and February bismuth production decreased due to the Chinese New Year, leading to tight domestic supply, while end-users also replenished stocks in March, driving up shipment prices. Third, market speculation was intense, with speculative funds flooding into various related markets to go long, accelerating price increases. However, some market participants believe that since the fundamental supply-demand structure of the market has not completely changed, and future market demand and bismuth oxide export conditions remain unclear, the sustained upward momentum of bismuth market prices is still insufficient. Therefore, recent bismuth prices have shown a lack of follow-through, with the upward trend stalling. Whether bismuth prices will have further upward momentum and space in the future will depend on changes in the fundamentals. View SMM bismuth historical prices.