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What cadmium costs

What does it cost, and how is it bought and sold?

Cadmium metal sold for about $3.90 a kilogram in 2025, so a year's output is worth roughly $90 million. In real terms the price has fallen to a small fraction of its level in the first half of the 20th century.

Last updated 3 October 2026.

Price

Price

$3.9per kg1

2025. Annual average free market price, 99.95% metal, 10 t lots, CIF global ports (Fastmarkets MB)

Value of a year's output

~ $90million a year1

2025. Our estimate: 23,000 t × $3.90/kg ≈ $90 million. Most metal is sold on private long-term contracts, so this is a rough value.

The average free market price of cadmium metal was $3.90 per kilogram in 2025. That price is for 99.95% pure metal in 10-tonne lots, delivered to world ports, as reported by Fastmarkets. It was $4.12 in 2024 and $2.56 in 20211.

At that price, the 23,000 tonnes refined in 2025 were worth about $90 million (23,000 tonnes × $3.90 per kilogram)1. This is a rough figure, since most cadmium is sold on private long-term contracts, not at the spot price2.

Cadmium is a by-product. Its exploration and mining costs are part of the costs of zinc, so its price does not need to pay for a mine3. In 1999 and 2000 the cadmium price was less than one third of the zinc price3.

Price history

Price over time, in 1998 dollars
0 20 40 1900 1925 1950 1975 2000
USD/kg. US unit value of cadmium metal, converted from dollars per tonne. Based on the Platts New York dealer price to 2015 and the Fastmarkets free market price from 2016; adjusted to 1998 dollars with the Consumer Price Index4
Show the numbers
YearUSD/kg
190028
190129
190222
190321
190424
190526
190631
190732
190830
190921
191021
191126
191228
191328
191432
191542.3
191651.4
191741.3
191835.2
191925.4
192021
192119.7
192223.3
192318.5
192412.6
192512.3
192612.2
192712.4
192812.6
192912.6
193012.9
193113
193214.4
193315.2
193414.7
193518.3
193625.3
193730.5
193825
193916.5
194021.1
194122
194217.4
194316.4
194415.3
194515.4
194618.2
194725.3
194824.7
194930.2
195032.3
195135.2
195230.3
195326.9
195422.7
195522.8
195622.5
195721.8
195818.9
195916.7
196018.4
196120.2
196220.5
196326.5
196434.8
196529.4
196626.9
196728.4
196827.4
196932
197033.1
197117
197222
197329.4
197429.8
197522.4
197616.8
197717.6
197813.5
197913.7
198012.4
19817.62
19824.14
19834.08
19845.85
19854.04
19864.1
19876.28
198820.9
198918.1
19909.29
19915.3
19922.32
19931.12
19942.74
19954.33
19962.84
19971.15
19980.626
19990.382
20000.343
20010.46
20020.583
20031.16
20041.04
20052.75
20062.41
20075.98
20084.48
20092.18
20102.91
20112
20121.44
20131.34
20141.34
20151.01
20160.91
20171.16
20181.88
20191.7
20201.44
20211.54

The USGS price series in 1998 dollars starts at about $28 per kilogram in 1900 and peaks at $51 per kilogram in 19164. This was during the First World War, when imports from Germany were cut and US output rose fast3. From 1919 to 1979 it moved between about $12 and $35 per kilogram4.

The price then fell. A supply squeeze caused a spike in 1988 and 19893, to about $21 per kilogram in 1998 dollars4. In the 1990s the price collapsed. By 2000 it was $0.34 per kilogram in 1998 dollars4. USGS said it had been lower since 1998, in current and constant dollars, than at any time in the 20th century3.

In 2007 the New York dealer price rose 155% in a year, to an average of $7.61 per kilogram5. It reached $12.43 in June. According to a number of published sources cited by USGS, the cause was a lack of metal on the spot market5. From 2011 to 2021 the real price stayed between about $0.9 and $2 per kilogram in 1998 dollars4. In 2021 it was $1.54, about a tenth of its level in the 1920s, when it ran from $12 to $234.

How it is traded

Most metal is sold on private long-term contracts, and price reporting agencies publish a spot price. USGS quoted the Platts New York dealer price in 2014 and the Fastmarkets price for global ports in 202661.

In 2019 China was the largest consumer and India a close second, followed at a distance by Belgium and Sweden2. Buyers in India were the most active on the spot market2. In 2007 Belgium turned much of its metal into cadmium compounds for battery makers abroad5.

The United States imported its unwrought cadmium mainly from China (50%) and Germany (33%) in 2021 to 20241. Cadmium oxide enters free of duty, while cadmium sulfide and cadmium pigments pay 3.1%1.

Sources

  1. 1

    U.S. Geological Survey, 2026. Cadmium, in Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 , pp. 52-53.

    World refinery production, price, US trade, substitutes and events for 2025.

    • W 4.06 E W 4.12 E W 3.90 <25
    • W 4.12 E W 3.90 <25
    • Average free market price for 99.95% purity in 10-ton lots; cost, insurance, and freight; global ports. Source: Fastmarkets MB.
    • W 2.56 <50 W 3.42 <25 W 4.06 E W 4.12 E W 3.90 <25
    • World total (rounded) … 22,800 23,000
    • Source: Fastmarkets MB
    • Import Sources (2021–24):6 China,7 50%; Germany, 33%
    • Free. 3.1% ad valorem. 3.1% ad valorem.
  2. 2

    R.M. Callaghan, U.S. Geological Survey, 2024. Cadmium, in 2019 Minerals Yearbook (advance release) , pp. 15.1-15.4.

    Uses, trade, consumers, China's pollution campaign and the outlook.

    • this price reflected the average price of cadmium traded on a spot basis; however, most cadmium produced was sold through private long-term contracts
    • China was the leading consumer of cadmium, although its consumption was decreasing. India was a close second, and Belgium and Sweden were a distant third and fourth
    • buyers in India were the most significant purchasers on the spot market
  3. 3

    W.C. Butterman and J. Plachy, U.S. Geological Survey, 2002. Mineral Commodity Profiles: Cadmium (Open-File Report 02-238) , pp. 3-24.

    History, minerals, refining process, uses by period, environment and price history to 2000.

    • its exploration and mining costs are embedded in those of the two base metals, especially zinc
    • it was less than one-third … of the zinc price in 1999 and 2000
    • as imports from Germany were curtailed during World War I, domestic production increased rapidly
    • the price spike of 1988-89, which was caused by a supply squeeze
    • has been lower in both current and constant dollar terms since 1998 than at any time in the 20th century
  4. 4

    U.S. Geological Survey (D.A. Buckingham, J. Plachy, P.H. Kuck, A.C. Tolcin, R.M. Callaghan), 2023. Cadmium statistics, in Historical Statistics for Mineral and Material Commodities in the United States (Data Series 140) , Columns: World production; Unit value (98 $/t).

    World production and US unit value of cadmium, 1900 to 2021.

    • Unit value (98 $/t) ... 1900 ... 28000 ... 2021 ... 1540
    • Unit value (98 $/t) … 1900 … 28000 … 1916 … 51400
    • 1926 … 12200 … 1951 … 35200
    • 1988 … 20900
    • 2000 … 343
    • 2011 … 2000 … 2016 … 910
    • 2021 … 1540
    • 1922 … 23300 … 1926 … 12200
  5. 5

    A.C. Tolcin, U.S. Geological Survey, 2010. Cadmium, in 2007 Minerals Yearbook , pp. 15.1-15.3.

    The 2007 price rise, producers by country, Belgium's compound makers and the EU battery directive.

    • $7.61 per kilogram ($3.45 per pound), an increase of 155% from the average annual price in 2006
    • reaching a high in June at $12.43 per kilogram … a number of published sources attributed cadmium’s considerable price rise to a lack of available material on the spot market
    • a large portion of the cadmium metal consumed in Belgium was for the production of cadmium compounds, which were then exported out of the country to NiCd battery manufacturers
  6. 6

    U.S. Geological Survey, 2014. Cadmium, in Mineral Commodity Summaries 2014 , World Refinery Production and Reserves table.

    Last USGS estimate of cadmium reserves, by country, for 2013.

    • Average New York dealer price for 99.95% purity in 5-short-ton lots. Source: Platts Metals Week