The price of bismuth, a rare metal used in solder, is rising rapidly. The price has risen sevenfold in the past three months. As part of the retaliation against the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration in the United States, China, the largest producer, has initiated export controls. China’s unprocessed product exports are zero, and the supply and demand of bismuth has become tight.
“It is surprising that the price has risen so sharply in a short period of time,” said Yukihiro Hashida, director of the metal sales department of Toho Asia Lead, a bismuth producer in Japan. Currently, the price of bismuth in Europe is about $45 per pound. It was more than $6 in late January, and now it has risen to about seven times.
Bismuth is widely used in many applications such as sprinkler heads and pharmaceutical raw materials. Among them, the most representative is the solder used to join electronic components. Bismuth has a low melting point, and if it is used to replace lead, it will become a solder with almost no toxicity.