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If you are not large enough to contract directly with a refiner, you are buying through one of ~5 specialist trading houses. If you are pricing material against a benchmark, you are reading one of three publishers. This page is the reference for the structure of that market — the procurement-outlook pages all point here.
Most minor metals (Ga, Ge, In, Te, Se, Bi, Sb, Cd, Hf, Re, Ta, REEs in oxide form, the dysprosium-terbium dopants) are not LME-traded. There is no public spot price. The market clears through the three layers below. Use the right one for your volume.
When you should use this channel: annual procurement spend under ~€10M on any single metal, qualification volumes / pilot lines, single-truckload to single-container lots, or any situation where you cannot afford a 6-18 month refiner qualification cycle. The trader takes inventory risk; you pay a 10-30% premium over refiner-direct pricing in exchange.
When you should subscribe: you are negotiating an offtake agreement against an index price, or pricing inventory on a monthly mark-to-market basis. The three publishers below own ≥95% of the institutional minor-metals benchmark market. Pick one (or all) based on what your counterparties price against. MacroLens does not republish their prices — the subscriptions are the product.
Practical note: the FOB-China print (Asian Metal) is the global reference for ≥70% of minor metals because Chinese refiners dominate refining capacity. Western-delivered prints (Argus, Fastmarkets) typically settle at FOB China + freight + risk premium; that premium has widened materially since 2022 export controls.
When you should use this channel: annual procurement spend ≥€10M on a single metal, multi-year volume requirements, or any application where qualification cost (test, certification, process integration) materially exceeds the trader premium. The structural lock-in is the qualification cycle, not price: once a refiner is qualified for your fab/line, switching costs dominate price-shopping for 5+ years.
6-18 months for power-electronics and pharmaceutical-grade materials; 3-6 months for less-demanding applications. During the qualification window the consumer cannot switch — even if spot prices double, even if the refiner's jurisdiction adds export controls. This is the structural reason China's refining dominance translates into geopolitical leverage: the switching option appears available on paper but is time-locked.
| Annual spend | Volume per lot | Right channel |
|---|---|---|
| < €100k | < 100 kg | Tradium / Strategic Metal Invest (small-lot specialists) |
| €100k–€10M | 1 container–1 truckload | Wogen / Lipmann Walton / Tradium (spot + small principal) |
| €10M+ | Multi-container, multi-month | Traxys (inventory holder) or direct refiner contract |
| €50M+ | Multi-year tonnage | Direct refiner contract — trader premium no longer worth it |
Reference page. Trading-house and publisher details from public company information + industry contacts as of 2026-05. Updated as firms change ownership or pricing structure. Not procurement advice; do your own counterparty diligence.