Bismuth Material File
The Netherlands Materials Observatory (NMO) publishes material files (in Dutch) that provide insight into the availability, applications and strategic relevance of specific materials. This report focuses on bismuth and brings together up-to-date, carefully analysed information relevant to government policy-making and decision-making in industry.
Last updated: August 2026
Applications
The use of bismuth is divided into chemicals (62%), low-melting-point alloys (28%) and metallurgical additives (10%). Most of the chemical applications are in the pharmaceutical and automotive industries. The use of bismuth in solder is expected to become increasingly important for the construction of AI data centres. Furthermore, bismuth plays a role in the semiconductor industry as a thermoelectric material.
Export restrictions
On 4 February 2025, China announced a mandatory export licence requirement for metallic bismuth and its products. Bismuth germanate, triphenylbismuth, triethoxyphenylbismuth and related production technologies and materials are also subject to the restriction.
Price trends
The bismuth market is driven by both the automotive and chemical industries. Bismuth is traded via OTC (over-the-counter) transactions. As a result of Chinese export restrictions in early 2025, the price rose to 38.50 USD/lb or 73.10 EUR/kg, more than double the record price set in 2008. Following the temporary trade deal concluded between the US and China in May 2025, prices stabilised at around 15 USD/lb or 28.48 EUR/kg.
Production and processing
| Extraction | In 2023, approximately 20 kt of bismuth was produced worldwide, of which over 16 kt was produced in China. Outside China, only Vietnam and South Korea produced bismuth on a significant scale in 2023 (approximately 1 kt). Production in other countries is many times smaller, ranging from a few tens to a few hundred tonnes per year. |
|---|---|
| Exploration | The largest non-Chinese exploration projects are located in Kazakhstan, Canada, South Korea and Australia. |
| Reserves | Global bismuth reserves stand at 750 kt, which would be sufficient to sustain bismuth mining for over 37 years. Bismuth is also extracted from mines without proven bismuth reserves, which is why the actual quantity of available bismuth is higher. The largest reserves are found in China (520 kt), Vietnam (52 kt), Peru (47 kt) and Canada (46 kt). |
| Processing | Bismuth processing methods vary greatly due to the wide variety of ore types from which bismuth can be produced. China processes over 80 per cent of all bismuth. Elsewhere, processing takes place mainly in South Korea (1,000 tonnes), Laos (500 tonnes) and Japan (500 tonnes). |
| Recycling | As bismuth is widely used in chemical products in low concentrations, less than 1 per cent of bismuth is recovered from end-of-life products in Europe. |
The Netherlands’ role in trade and use
Dutch imports and exports
The Netherlands is a major importer of bismuth products, in particular unprocessed high-purity bismuth (81061010) and bismuth trioxide (28259021). Prior to the Chinese export measure introduced in February 2025, the Netherlands was one of the leading destination countries for metallic bismuth. Following the measure, Dutch import volumes of metallic bismuth have fallen sharply; for bismuth trioxide, the Netherlands remains the largest destination country even after the measure was introduced.
Origin of Dutch imports
China is the dominant country of origin. In 2023 and 2024, 92 to 96% of Dutch imports of unprocessed high-purity bismuth (81061010) originated from China. Following the export measure introduced in February 2025, Japan and South Korea have emerged as alternative countries of origin for metallic bismuth, but import volumes remain consistently lower than they were prior to the measure.
Applications in The Netherlands
In the Netherlands, bismuth is used in pigments and pharmaceutical products. There are also distributors of bismuth operating in the Netherlands. Indirectly, bismuth enters the Netherlands via semi-finished products, including Sn-Bi solder (high-tech/electronics) and bismuth alloys in fusible links for sprinkler systems (construction/fire safety).
Requests and conditions
This material file is only in Dutch and available exclusively on request to businesses and government bodies. The NMO makes the information in this file available, without obligation, to organisations active in the industry for which the content is relevant.
Organisations interested in one or more material files can submit a request via the TNO Repository. A member of the NMO team will then contact you to discuss the request in further detail.