The price of rare metal bismuth has risen sevenfold in three months

The price of bismuth, a rare metal used in solder, is rising rapidly. The price has risen sevenfold in the past three months. As part of the retaliation against the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration in the United States, China, the largest producer, has initiated export controls. China’s unprocessed product exports are zero, and the supply and demand of bismuth has become tight.

“It is surprising that the price has risen so sharply in a short period of time,” said Yukihiro Hashida, director of the metal sales department of Toho Asia Lead, a bismuth producer in Japan. Currently, the price of bismuth in Europe is about $45 per pound. It was more than $6 in late January, and now it has risen to about seven times.

Bismuth is widely used in many applications such as sprinkler heads and pharmaceutical raw materials. Among them, the most representative is the solder used to join electronic components. Bismuth has a low melting point, and if it is used to replace lead, it will become a solder with almost no toxicity.

The trigger for the rapid price increase was China’s export control. On February 4, China’s Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs issued export controls on rare metal-related categories such as tungsten, tellurium, molybdenum, indium, and bismuth. This is considered a retaliatory measure against the US tariffs, and Chinese exporters will not be able to export without government permission. China’s customs data showed that in February, when the export control was launched, the export volume of unprocessed bismuth decreased by more than 80% from the previous month. The export volume in March was zero.

Bismuth is mainly produced in China. According to data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), China accounts for 81% of bismuth production (2024). Therefore, China’s export controls have a great impact on bismuth supply. There are also voices in the market saying, “At present, we can only deal with it through inventory, and in the future we should consider purchasing from outside China and raising product prices.” One of the suppliers besides China is Japan. Bismuth is a by-product of the lead refining process. Japan accounted for 3% of the world’s bismuth production in 2024. Toho Asia Lead’s Hashida said, “In order to meet demand, production will be increased to the extent possible.”

China is strengthening export controls on important minerals. Starting with gallium and germanium used as semiconductor materials in 2023, export controls will be implemented on antimony used as automotive flame retardants in September 2024, and on some rare earths in April 2025. Due to the new export controls, market stakeholders are becoming more vigilant about the rapid rise in resource prices.