2016 REVIEW: Minor metals leaderboard

Selenium prices have gained the most ground in percentage terms this year – predominantly due to spike in prices in the past few weeks.

December 30, 2016

By James Heywood

In 2015, every minor metal saw a drop in price, with tellurium falling by 82% and chromium suffering the least- it dropped by only 11%.

This year, however, the trend has been for improving prices. And while the underlying fundamentals tugged a few further down, most of the minors posted a recovery from their levels at the start of the year.

Metal	Start	High	Low	Finish	Percentage change
Antimony (trioxide grade, $ per tonne)	5050	7650	5050	7350	45.54%
Antimony standard grade, $ per tonne)	5000	7600	5000	7250	45.00%
Bismuth ($ per lb)	4.1	4.5	4.1	4.55	10.98%
Cadmium (99.99%, cents per lb)	45	74	45	68	51.11%
Cadmium (99.95%, cents per lb)	40	70	40	65	62.50%
Chromium ($ per tonne)	7700	7700	6750	7500	-2.60%
Cobalt high grade ($ per lb)	9.2	14.35	9.2	14.4	56.52%
Cobalt low grade ($ per lb)	9.2	14.1	9.2	14.25	54.89%
Gallium ($ per kg)	120	150	110	150	25.00%
Germanium ($ per kg)	1300	1300	800	870	-33.08%
Hafnium ($ per kg)*	1200	1200	950	950	-20.83%
Indium ($ per kg)	230	245	185	190	-17.39%
Magnesium ($ per tonne)	1965	2350	1900	2350	19.59%
Manganese ($ per tonne)	1600	2650	1600	2650	65.63%
Mercury ($ per flask)	1250	1250	940	1050	-16.00%
Rhenium (pellet, $ per lb)	900	900	770	770	-14.44%
Selenium ($ per lb)	6.8	11.5	4.5	13	91.18%
Silicon (€ per tonne)	1930	1930	1600	1700	-11.92%
Tellurium ($ per kg)	20	30	20	27.5	37.50%