Indium
A soft, silvery metal recovered as a by-product of zinc refining. Most indium goes into indium tin oxide (ITO), the transparent conductor in flat-panel displays and touch screens. China refines about 70% of the world's indium.
Supply risk
Reviewed 3 Oct 2026 · Methodology
Elevated
China licenses exports of indium phosphide and organo-indium compounds
Supply concentration (high) and export controls (high) decide the level: China refines about 70% of world indium, and its licensing of indium phosphide and organo-indium compounds since February 2025 has constrained InP exports. Unwrought indium is not on the licence list and refiners in Korea, Japan and Canada supply about a quarter of world output, so the level is one below the top drivers.
Since 4 Feb 2025 · Sources: Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, U.S. Geological Survey, Reuters via Kitco
Get alerts for this materialRisk drivers
- Supply concentrationHigh
- China refined an estimated 760 t of 1,100 t of world indium in 2025 (about 70%), followed by the Republic of Korea (180 t), Japan (65 t) and Canada (40 t). Indium is a by-product of zinc refining.Source: U.S. Geological Survey
- Export controlsHigh
- Since 4 Feb 2025 China has licensed exports of indium phosphide, trimethylindium, triethylindium and related technology; the Nov 2025 US–China suspension did not cover them. Reuters reported InP export-permit delays for substrate makers. USGS cites a 72% fall in China's unwrought indium exports in the year to Sep 2025.Sources: Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, Reuters via Kitco, Metal Tech News, U.S. Geological Survey
- Policy & tariffsModerate
- On 14 Jan 2026 US Proclamation 11001 closed the Section 232 review of processed critical minerals without a tariff and opened 180 days of negotiations, leaving further measures possible.Source: Thompson Hine
- Operational disruptionLow
- No significant outages at indium refineries were identified in the 12 months to October 2026.
- Demand shockElevated
- InP lasers and photodetectors for AI data centres and 5G are driving demand growth. Reuters (Jun 2026) reported tight InP supply, with Lumentum sold out through 2028 and Coherent doubling InP wafer capacity in Texas; ITO for displays remains the largest use.Sources: Reuters via Kitco, U.S. Geological Survey
Status history2 entries
Elevatedcurrent
China licenses exports of indium phosphide and organo-indium compounds
Supply concentration (high) and export controls (high) decide the level: China refines about 70% of world indium, and its licensing of indium phosphide and organo-indium compounds since February 2025 has constrained InP exports. Unwrought indium is not on the licence list and refiners in Korea, Japan and Canada supply about a quarter of world output, so the level is one below the top drivers.
Sources: Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, U.S. Geological Survey, Reuters via Kitco
Moderate
Baseline
China produced about 59% of world refined indium in 2022, so supply concentration (elevated) set the level. No export restrictions were in force.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
A supply-availability rating, not a price forecast or investment view. Export-control information is factual and is not legal advice.
Trade flows
2024 · HS 811292
CombinedOther minor metals, unwrought, and powders (gallium, germanium, indium and others)
Recorded world imports: 8,697 t · $1.08B
Top exporters
- Brazil37%3,220 t · $164M
- China17%1,446 t · $269M
- Germany9%771 t · $50.5M
- South Korea8%676 t · $191M
- United States6%543 t · $67.3M
- Singapore4%339 t · $90.6M
- Japan3%278 t · $34.8M
- Estonia3%240 t · $27.4M
- United Kingdom2%167 t · $5.85M
- Canada2%143 t · $27.1M
Top importers
- United States34%2,931 t · $275M
- China19%1,672 t · $297M
- Japan8%729 t · $94.9M
- United Kingdom5%428 t · $21.9M
- South Korea5%422 t · $99.8M
- Kazakhstan5%400 t · $16.3M
- Hong Kong4%352 t · $66.9M
- Germany3%303 t · $61.7M
- France3%257 t · $14.3M
- Italy3%236 t · $18.3M
Largest routes
- Brazil→United States2,139 t · $99M
- Brazil→China711 t · $43.5M
- South Korea→China579 t · $163M
- China→South Korea391 t · $93.5M
- Brazil→Japan282 t · $15M
Source: UN Comtrade, imports reported by 74 countries for 2024. Exporters are ranked by what importing countries recorded (mirror data), so countries that do not report their own exports are still counted. Values are in US dollars including freight and insurance. Weights are product weight. Recent years can be incomplete, and unrecorded trade is not included.
Overview
Indium is a soft, silvery metal that is stable in air and water and melts at only about 157 °C. It was discovered in 1863 in Freiberg, Germany, and is named after the brilliant violet line it shows in a spectroscope. It is one of the scarcer elements in the Earth's crust, at about 0.05 parts per million.1
Its importance comes from indium tin (ITO), a material that is both electrically conductive and transparent. ITO production accounts for most global indium consumption, mainly for flat-panel displays.2
Indium is on the US list of .3 The EU dropped it from its critical raw materials list in 2023, partly because EU indium production exceeds EU consumption.4
Where it comes from
Indium is almost never mined for itself. It is most commonly recovered from sphalerite, the main zinc mineral, in which its content ranges from less than 1 to about 100 parts per million. It also occurs in traces in other base-metal sulfides, such as chalcopyrite and stannite, but recovery from most of these deposits is not economic.2 The US government classes indium as a of zinc.3
World production was an estimated 1,100 t in 2025, little changed from 1,090 t in 2024. China accounted for about 70%, followed by the Republic of Korea and Japan. Reported refinery capacity was about 1,700 t. Production data are limited for most countries, so the estimates them from trade data, capacity and changes in zinc and lead output.2
- China760 t · 69%
- Korea180 t · 16%
- Japan65 t · 6%
- Canada40 t · 4%
- Other countries46 t · 4%
World total as rounded by USGS. Country figures are USGS estimates derived from trade data, capacity and related zinc and lead smelter output. Source: Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Indium
The United States did not recover indium from ores in 2025. Several US companies made , compounds, solders and metal from imported indium.2
What it is used for
The European Commission estimates that about 60% of indium used globally goes into ITO.4 ITO thin films act as transparent electrodes, most commonly in liquid crystal displays (LCDs), and are also used in touch screens and .21
Other uses include alloys and solders, compounds, electrical components and .2 Demand from communications and computing is growing:
- Indium phosphide (InP) substrates are used in lasers and receivers for 5G networks, and in high-speed photodetectors and laser diodes for optical communications.2
- Data centers use ITO coatings on fibers and cables and some indium-based solder alloys in electrical components; artificial intelligence is expected to raise demand for InP chip materials.2
Grades and forms
Refined indium is traded as metal of at least 99.99% purity, the grade used in US and European market reporting.2 China's cover indium phosphide, trimethylindium and triethylindium, and the related production technology.5
Refined indium metal
Commonly ≥ 99.99% In
Refined metal from which ITO, solders, alloys and compounds are made.
Indium tin oxide (ITO)
Transparent, electrically conductive oxide applied as thin-film coatings in displays, touch screens and solar panels.
Indium phosphide (InP)
Compound semiconductor used for lasers, photodetectors and substrates in fiber-optic communications.
Trimethylindium and triethylindium
Organoindium compounds covered by China's 2025 dual-use export controls.
Indium solders and alloys
Low-melting alloys used in electronics assembly and thermal interfaces.
Trade and policy
The United States relies entirely on imports for indium. Estimated consumption was 220 t in 2025, equal to imports. In 2021–24 its imports came from the Republic of Korea (25%), Japan (22%), China (12%) and Canada (11%), with 30% from other countries.2
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 4 Feb 2025 | China's Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs add indium-related items (indium phosphide, trimethylindium, triethylindium and their production technology) to the dual-use export control list, effective immediately; exporters must apply for a license.5 |
| Sep 2024 – Sep 2025 | China's exports of unwrought indium fall by 72% year on year, according to Asian Metal data cited by the USGS.2 |
This section is factual background, not legal or trade-compliance advice.
Recycling and substitution
Indium is most often from ITO , mainly in Japan and the Republic of Korea. Indium-containing scrap is also recycled in the United States, but no data on the quantity recovered are available.2
Several materials have been developed as alternatives to ITO: antimony tin oxide for LCDs; carbon nanotube coatings for flexible displays, solar cells and touch screens; the conductive polymer PEDOT for flexible displays and organic LEDs; copper or silver nanowires for touch screens; graphene for solar cell electrodes; and zinc oxide nanopowder for LCDs. Hafnium can replace indium in nuclear control rod alloys.2
Sources
-
Indium: element information, properties and uses. Royal Society of Chemistry, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩2
-
Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Indium. U.S. Geological Survey, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13
-
Final 2025 List of Critical Minerals (90 FR 50494). Federal Register, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩2
-
Study on the Critical Raw Materials for the EU 2023 – Final Report. European Commission, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩2
-
MOFCOM and GAC Announcement No. 10 of 2025 on export controls on tungsten-, tellurium-, bismuth-, molybdenum- and indium-related items. Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩2