Weak Price for Indium Ingot in Japan

The market price of indium ingot is weakening in Japan. Japanese official price for indium ingot with 99.99% purity announced by Dowa Mining, the indicator for the market price, is 115,000 yen per kilogram for large contract users. International indium spot price has declined since April when the demand is decreasing for liquid crystal panels.European indium ingot price, the indicator for Japanese official price, is $710-740 per kg currently. The price was as high as $980-1,020 in February-March of this year and has declined by around 30% with the surplus inventory of liquid crystal panel in Taiwanese market. The price is now at the cheapest level in these 2 years.Japanese sputtering target material makers, the largest users of indium, procure the ingot on long-term contracts with the producers in Canada, South Korea and China. International indium spot price is declining by another factor that the traders are selling the ingot at cheaper prices. However, Japanese target maker source indicated that the demand of liquid crystal panel basically maintain the growth trend and that the market price can rebound when the inventory adjustment completes in autumn.