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What hafnium costs

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

Unwrought hafnium cost about $3,800 per kilogram in 2025, by the Argus annual average. The average rose about eightfold from 2021 to 2023. Public quotes passed $14,000 per kilogram in June 2026. Reuters and Argus linked the rises to demand from aircraft, turbine and chip makers.

Last updated 14 October 2026.

Price

Assessed price

~ $3,800per kg1

2025. Unwrought hafnium, annual average from Argus Non-Ferrous Markets, as given by USGS. 2025 is a USGS estimate.

The annual average was $781 per kg in 2021, $1,590 in 2022 and $6,130 in 2023. Argus assessed 99% hafnium at $6,800 to $7,100 per kg in Rotterdam in July 2023. OnG Commodities wrote in August 2026 that public quotes, for example Argus in June 2026, were above $14,000 per kg.

The Argus annual average price of unwrought hafnium was about $3,800 per kilogram in 2025. It was $781 in 2021, $1,590 in 2022, $6,130 in 2023 and $4,560 in 20241. USGS takes these prices from Argus Media1.

Hafnium is far more costly than zirconium, which comes from the same ore. Zirconium sponge cost about $22 per kilogram in China in 20251.

Price history

Price over time, in 2025 US dollars
0 500 1k 1.5k 1960 1980 2000 2020 Import unit value
Unit: USD/kg. US unit value of hafnium per kg. The source gives 1998 US dollars per t. Up to 1999, the value of hafnium sponge that the United States consumed. From 2000, the duty-paid unit value of unwrought hafnium imported from France. A US value, not a world market price. From 2000, USGS uses the duty-paid unit value of unwrought hafnium imported from France. Before 2000, it used the value of sponge consumed in the United States, and estimated 1959 by regression (USGS worksheet notes). In dollars of each year, the value was $88 per kg in 1959, $225 in 2008 and $472 in 2009. The low value for 2016 ($160 per kg in dollars of that year) is as given by USGS. That year, USGS gives US imports of 180 t, the largest in the series and more than twice the estimated world output. USGS gives no reason for either value. The 2026 Mineral Commodity Summaries give an Argus market price of $6,130 per kg for 2023 and $3,800 for 2025. In 2025 US dollars. The source gives 1998 US dollars. We multiplied every value by 1.98, the US consumer price index (CPI-U) for 2025 divided by that for 199823
Show the numbers
YearUSD/kg
1959971.8
1960959.9
1961950
1962936.2
19631,736
19641,714
19651,687
19661,635
19671,590
19681,479
19691,448
19701,369
19711,311
19721,270
19731,197
19741,078
1975987.6
1976934.2
1977876.9
1978898.7
1979807.8
1980711
1981762.4
1982717
1983695.2
1984715
1985691.3
1986679.4
1987529.3
1988628.1
1989600.4
1990460.2
1991442.4
1992428.6
1993416.7
1994406.9
1995395
1996383.2
1997375.3
1998369.3
1999361.4
2000349.6
2001250.8
2002355.5
2003395
2004379.2
2005387.1
2006310.1
2007381.2
2008335.8
2009709.1
2010780.2
2011778.2
2012705.1
2013797.9
2014762.4
2015823.6
2016215.3
2017381.2
20181,072
20191,005
2020831.5
2021817.7

USGS gives a US unit value of hafnium from 1959, in 1998 dollars. We show it in 2025 dollars in the chart2. Until 1999 it is the value of hafnium sponge used in the United States. From 2000 it is the value of unwrought hafnium imported from France2.

After inflation, the value fell slowly from the 1960s to about 2008. It then doubled in 20092. The European Commission gives a range of about €850 to €1,900 per kilogram from 2009 to 20174.

The largest rise came in 2022 and 2023. Argus assessed 99% hafnium at just over $1,500 per kilogram in early September 2022. In November it was $2,220 to $2,5005. In July 2023, Argus assessed it at $6,800 to $7,100. That was the highest price since Argus began the assessment in 20156.

Reuters reported in 2023 that demand from the aerospace and electronics industries grew after the COVID-19 restrictions ended, and that this caused shortages7. In July 2023, Argus reported that most large hafnium producers worked at low rates, because hafnium oxide feedstock was short6.

Prices rose again from late 2025. In October 2025, Argus assessed hafnium at $5,100 to $5,800 per kilogram, the highest since December 20238. Argus linked the rise to demand from electronics, gas turbines and aerospace8. The consultancy OnG Commodities wrote in August 2026 that public quotes, for example Argus in June 2026, were above $14,000 per kilogram9.

OnG wrote that demand for hafnium grows faster than the output of nuclear-grade zirconium. In its view, Chinese export controls are not the main cause9. OnG wrote that separation for hafnium alone will need a price well above $5,000 per kilogram. It cannot see prices below the upper single-digit thousands of dollars per kilogram. This is a forecast9.

How it is traded

Hafnium is not traded on an exchange. The European Commission says it is not traded publicly, so world price data are hard to find4.

Much hafnium is sold on long-term contracts. In April 2025, Argus reported that some buyers paid close to $6,000 per kilogram on such contracts. The Rotterdam spot price was then $3,700 to $3,90010.

The trader Anthony Lipmann wrote in 2012 that traders hold stocks of hafnium. In his view, they are critical to moving hafnium from nuclear producers to other users11.

From 2021 to 2024, the United States bought most of its unwrought hafnium from Germany (54%), China (21%), France (12%) and the United Kingdom (8%)1. USGS names China and Germany as the leading exporters of unwrought hafnium in 20251.

Sources

  1. 1

    U.S. Geological Survey (Shelby N. Johnston), 2026. Zirconium and Hafnium, in Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 , Pp. 1-2: production and use, salient statistics (hafnium rows), events, world production and reserves, resources, substitutes, footnote 6.

    Hafnium prices from 2021 to 2025, US trade in hafnium, import sources, recycling, substitutes, and the statement that world data are not available.

    • Hafnium, unwrought,6 dollars per kilogram ... 781 ... 1,590 ... 6,130 ... 4,560 ... 3,800 ... Source: Argus Media group, Argus Non-Ferrous Markets, annual average.
    • Hafnium, unwrought,6 dollars per kilogram … 781 … 1,590 … 6,130 … 4,560 … 3,800
    • Source: Argus Media group, Argus Non-Ferrous Markets, annual average.
    • Zirconium, sponge, ex-works China,6 dollars per … 22
    • Hafnium, unwrought: Germany, 54%; China, 21%; France, 12%; United Kingdom, 8%; and other, 5%.
    • The leading global exporters of unwrought hafnium were China and Germany.
  2. 2

    U.S. Geological Survey (C.A. DiFrancesco, J.B. Hedrick, J. Gambogi, P.J. Loferski, G.M. Bedinger and E.S. Sangine), 2023. Hafnium statistics, in Historical Statistics for Mineral and Material Commodities in the United States (Data Series 140) , ds140-hafnium-2021.xlsx, columns 'Imports', 'Unit value ($/t)' and 'Unit value (98$/t)', and the embedded notes document.

    US unit value of hafnium from 1959 to 2021, US imports, and the start of US production in 1952.

    • Unit value (98$/t) ... 492000 ... 879000 ... 177000 ... 109000 ... 543000 ... 414000
    • Unit value (98$/t)
    • Data for the MYB for 2000 to the most present year were the unit value based on duty-paid unit value of imported unwrought hafnium from France.
    • Unit value (98$/t) … 170000 … 359000
  3. 3

    U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): all items in U.S. city average, series CUUR0000SA0 .

    Annual averages 1913 to 2025, 1982-84 = 100. Price series in US dollars are adjusted with it to US dollars of 2025. The page refuses scripts; the text was read with Firecrawl.

  4. 4

    European Commission (G.A. Blengini and others), 2020. Study on the EU's list of Critical Raw Materials (2020): Factsheets on Critical Raw Materials , Chapter 12, Hafnium (pp. 253-266).

    World production 2012-2016, producers, uses, recycling, prices, trade measures, the name.

    • In the period 2009-2017, the maximum price (ca. €1,900 per kilogram) was about double the minimum price (ca. €850 per kilogram)
    • Hafnium metal is not traded publicly, therefore worldwide price trends are not readily available.
  5. 5

    Argus Media, 2022. Hafnium prices surge as supply concerns build .

    Hafnium prices in 2022, the industry estimate of world supply, producing countries, US duty on Chinese material.

    • in early September, the assessment stood at just over $1,500/kg in warehouse Rotterdam
    • $2,220-2,500/kg in warehouse Rotterdam on 8 November
  6. 6

    Argus Media, 2023. Limited supply, higher demand bolster China's Hf prices .

    The record hafnium price of July 2023, Chinese supply, export permits and a plant stopped by environmental inspections.

    • $6,800-7,100/kg duty unpaid Rotterdam on 18 July
    • The current price is the highest since Argus launched this assessment in 2015.
    • Most major hafnium producers are also operating at low run rates owing to a shortage of hafnium oxide feedstock supplies.
  7. 7

    Reuters (Seher Dareen), republished by Kitco, 2023. Aerospace, electronic demand drive hafnium's 400% record surge .

    The price rise of 2022, traders' estimates of supply, Russian export licences, chip demand.

    • Shortages created by robust demand from the aerospace and electronic industries as growth accelerated after the lifting of COVID restrictions
  8. 8

    Argus Media (Cristina Belda), 2025. Hafnium approaches two-year high on fresh demand .

    Hafnium prices in October 2025, demand from chips and gas turbines, Chinese export licences, US imports from China in 2024.

    • spiked to $5,100-5,800/kg duty unpaid Rotterdam yesterday
    • to its highest level since December 2023
    • in response to surging demand from the electronics, gas turbine and aerospace sectors
  9. 9

    Andrew Matheson and Patrick Stratton, OnG Commodities LLC, in The Crucible (Minor Metals Trade Association), 2026. Hafnium – Where will it end? .

    A consultancy's view of the hafnium market in 2026: prices, supply estimate, Western processors, uses, and its forecast. Published 7 August 2026.

    • Hafnium prices are at previously unheard-of levels, with public quotes (e.g. Argus, June 2026) crossing $14,000/kg.
    • the heart of the matter is that growth in hafnium demand is outstripping growth in nuclear grade zirconium
    • So China does not seem to be the cause of today’s market tightness and price spiral.
    • we believe deliberate dehafniation will require a price comfortably above $5,000/kg
    • we cannot see hafnium prices falling below somewhere in the upper-single-digit $ thousands per kg
  10. 10

    Argus Media (Cristina Belda), 2025. Fresh concerns over the US' 80pc tariff on hafnium .

    The US tariff on hafnium from China in April 2025, Chinese export licences after September 2024, and the four producing countries.

    • Some buyers are paying close to $6,000/kg and higher on these terms.
    • assessed European hafnium prices unchanged today at $3,700-3,900/kg duty unpaid Rotterdam
  11. 11

    Anthony Lipmann, Lipmann Walton & Co (metal trader), 2012. Hafnium Supply-Demand – MMTA – Brief Metal Statistics .

    A trader's account of hafnium supply, crystal bar production, uses and trade, written in 2012 and updated in 2020.

    • act as stockholders and merchants critical to the transfer of units from nuclear to non-nuclear industry