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Indium contained in zinc and lead concentrates is increasingly valued explicitly through separate payable terms in negotiations between miners, traders and smelters, rather than indirectly through overall treatment charges (TCs), Fastmarkets heard at this year’s London Metal Exchange (LME) Week.
“Indium used to be accounted for more within the treatment charge – but it is increasingly seen as a separate payable term itself,” a market source said.
“Separate payables for indium have become more established,” a producer source said.
The shift reflects the increasing recognition of indium as a valuable by-product, with concentrate sellers seeking explicit payment for the contained metal.
Indium is produced mainly from residues generated during zinc ore processing. A significant portion of global indium supply also comes from recycling streams, notably spent indium tin oxide (ITO) targets, shielding scrap and indium-containing liquids.
China is the largest producer and consumer of indium globally.
Korea Zinc, one of the world’s largest producers of refined indium outside of China, extracts the metal through its zinc and lead smelting operations. The company also aims to produce indium and other valuable by-products at its JPMorgan-backed Project Crucible in Clarksville, Tennessee.
Canada’s Teck Resources, meanwhile, produces indium at its Trail refinery in British Columbia.
Higher indium prices support shift
After a decade of relatively subdued prices, Chinese and European indium prices have climbed since early 2026.
Raw material consolidation, tighter spot supply outside China and strong indium-phosphide (InP) demand have been key factors behind the upward momentum.
Fastmarkets’ twice-weekly price assessment for indium 99.99%, in-whs Rotterdam was $895-930 per kg on Friday October 23, flat since October 2 but up by around 134% from $376-405 per kg on January 2.
Indium metal was not included on China’s export control list, but InP – used in the production of semiconductors optical devices and photonic devices – was added in February 2025.
Unlike other metals, such as gallium and germanium, which China placed under export controls in 2023, the price difference for indium inside and outside China is less pronounced.
Market sources told Fastmarkets that this largely reflects strong domestic consumption, supported by robust downstream demand for ITO used in LCD and OLED displays, as well as indium-based compounds used in semiconductors, solar cells and other optoelectronic applications.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for indium 99.99%, exw China was 4,600-4,700 yuan ($689.66-704.65) per kg on October 23, down by 6.44% from the previous session.
Part of wider shift in by-product payables
The emergence of indium payables echoes developments elsewhere in zinc and lead concentrates, where payable credits for by-products including copper, silver, gold and other minor metals have become increasingly important in negotiations between miners, traders and smelters.
Where a separate payable is negotiated, the value of the by-product is treated separately from the headline TC.
“Traditionally, if you sold a parcel with high indium content you would receive a premium on the headline TC figure,” a South American zinc trader said.
“Chinese and Western Hemisphere smelters are increasingly looking to formalise separate indium payables in their offers as the zinc concentrates market tightens and indium prices rise,” the trader added.
Indium was a key focus in wider discussions around by-product payables during LME Week, alongside moves to modernise zinc concentrate trading practices more closely in line with the copper concentrates market, Fastmarkets heard.
“The terms we are hearing vary greatly. New terms are typically tested on smaller spot parcels before being adopted more broadly across the market,” a second zinc trader said.
Fastmarkets’ twice-monthly assessment of the zinc spot concentrate TC, CIF China is in deep negative territory, falling to a new record low of $(115)-(150) per tonne on Friday October 9.
US stockpiling cancellation unsettles market
While higher indium prices have supported the emergence of separate payables, US stockpiling developments briefly unsettled market sentiment.
The US Defense Logistics Agency’s (DLA) requested 400 tonnes of 99.99% purity indium on July 13, adding bullish sentiment to a market already supported by a strong demand outlook. But the DLA cancelled the request on October 12, with some sources telling Fastmarkets that the market would have struggled to supply the required volume.
The cancellation removed the prospect of substantial volumes being diverted into US government stockpiles.
One market source estimated the global indium market to be around 1,000 tonnes per year, with the majority of that consumed within China.
Following the news, indium prices on China’s Zhonglianjin exchange fell by 5.3% to 4,842 yuan ($726) per kg from 5,112 yuan per kg on October 15.
The decline proved short-lived, however, with prices recovering to 5,065 yuan per kg on October 23.
Despite the DLA’s cancellation of its indium request, market sources said underlying global indium fundamentals remained attractive, and that changes in US stockpiling alone would not alter the broader trend towards separate indium payables in zinc and lead concentrate negotiations.
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