#71
Lu
Lutetium
Heavy Rare Earth
Restricted
Rarest naturally occurring lanthanide (~10 t/yr separated oxide). Underpins $2.1B Lu-177 radiopharmaceutical market (Novartis Pluvicto + Lutathera) and every modern PET scanner (LYSO/LSO crystals). Under active Announcement No. 18/2025 export controls — never suspended.
Last update: 2026-03-30
12 records
12 records
Retail Reference
$66700/kg
Metal 99.99% (4N)
· 10 g
Smart-Elements
· AT
· 2026-03
Retail Premium: 94.3×
Bulk Benchmark
$707/kg
Oxide 99.99% (4N)
BusinessAnalytiq (NE Asia)
· Domestic
· 2026-03
Applications
| Application | Role | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Lu-177 radiopharmaceuticals | Pluvicto (mCRPC/mHSPC prostate cancer) and Lutathera (neuroendocrine tumours); targeted radionuclide therapy | $2.1 B Novartis revenue in 2024. FDA expanded Pluvicto to pre-chemotherapy patients (Mar 2025), ~tripling eligible population. Target >$5 B peak sales. Broader Lu-177 market projected $6.4–14.7 B by early 2030s [7][8][9] |
| LYSO/LSO PET scintillation crystals | Lu₂SiO₅:Ce and Lu₂(1−x)Y₂xSiO₅:Ce detector material; time-of-flight PET/CT imaging | Irreplaceable. Every modern PET scanner (Siemens, GE, Philips) uses LYSO or LSO. Crystal market ~$0.75 B (2022) → ~$1.5 B by 2030. No known substitute for ToF-PET [10][11][12] |
| CERN HEP calorimetry | LYSO-based barrel timing layer for the High-Luminosity LHC CMS detector upgrade | Extends lutetium into fundamental physics; confirms its irreplaceability in fast-timing scintillation [13] |
| Petroleum cracking catalysts | Lu₂O₃ compounds for alkylation, hydrogenation, and polymerisation catalysis | Substitutable with other rare earths; ~35% of oxide demand by some estimates [14] |
| LuAG phosphors, optics & geochronology | Lu₃Al₅O₁₂:Ce for LED/X-ray phosphors; high-refractive-index glass; Lu-176 (t½ = 38 Gyr) for Lu-Hf dating of meteorites | Niche but irreplaceable for geochronology; growing for LED/phosphor applications [14][15] |
Market & Supply
Global separated Lu₂O₃ output
~10 t/yr (conservative) [16]
China HREE separation share
90–95% [16][17]
Dedicated lutetium mines worldwide
Zero — all Lu is a byproduct of broader RE processing [16]
Raw oxide market value
~$90–150 M; enables >$5 B downstream applications [16]
Lu₂O₃ 4N, China domestic (SMM)
~$653–738/kg (ex-VAT / with VAT), Jan 2026 [18]
Lu₂O₃ 4N, NE Asia (BusinessAnalytiq)
$707/kg, Mar 2026 (−0.5% m/m) [19]
Ex-China spot (small lots, May 2025)
$10,000–16,000/kg (10–20× domestic) [20]
USGS risk designation
“Highest risk” — required price ceiling to prevent model divergence [21]
Bulk & wholesale oxide offers
| Source | Purity | $/kg | Basis | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earthrarest.com (aggregated) | ≥99.99% | ~640 | 3-mo spot avg, CN | Aggregates SMM data [22] |
| SMM (Jan 2026) | ≥99.99% | ~653 | China domestic ex-VAT | Most authoritative benchmark [18] |
| Alibaba (low end) | ~99.9% | 690–900 | FOB China | Various suppliers [23] |
| BusinessAnalytiq (Mar 2026) | — | 707 | NE Asia | −0.5% m/m [19] |
| SMM (Jan 2026, incl. VAT) | ≥99.99% | ~738 | China domestic | With 13% VAT [18] |
| Ganzhou Wanfeng (M-I-C) | 99.9% | 800–1,100 | FOB China | MOQ 1 kg; 15 working days [24] |
| IMARC Q3 2025 | — | 875 | China regional | Blended forms; peak pricing [25] |
| Ganzhou Wanfeng (M-I-C) | 99.99% | 1,200+ | FOB China | MOQ 1 kg [24] |
| Alibaba (high purity) | 99.99%+ | 2,500–5,000 | FOB China | Small lots [23] |
Metal Offers
| Date | Purity | $/kg | Qty | Seller | Country | Category | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-03 | 99.9% | 4,900 | 90 g | chineseelements (eBay) | CN | Retail | Metal chunks; best per-gram rate found online ($4.90/g); eBay CN seller [26] |
| 2026-03 | 99.9% | 15,000 | 1 g | Luciteria (eBay) | US | Retail | Metal pieces in vial; 2 left, 63 sold [26] |
| 2026-03 | 99.9% | 16,800 | 1 g | PEGUYS | US | Retail | Metal pieces in vial; in stock [27] |
| 2026-03 | 99.95% | 24,590 | 9.8 g | bacy6014 (eBay) | CN | Retail | Mirror-polished 10 mm density cube; listed [26] |
| 2026-03 | 99.95% | 26,420 | 24.75 g | Smart-Elements | AT | Retail | Bullion bar; sold out [28] |
| 2026-03 | 99.95% | 49,800 | 0.5 g | NovaElements (eBay) | IT | Retail | Piece in glass vial; 10+ units [26] |
| 2026-03 | 99.99% (4N) | 66,700 | 10 g | Smart-Elements | AT | Retail ref. | Ampoule, argon; 17 units in stock; $667 per unit [28] |
| 2026-03 | 99.99% (4N) | 67,600 | 5 g | Smart-Elements | AT | Retail | Bottle, argon; 12 units [28] |
| 2026-03 | 99.99% (4N) | 103,530 | 0.85 g | Smart-Elements | AT | Retail | Ampoule; 11 units [28] |
| 2026-03 | 99.9% | 183,400 | 5 g | Thermo Fisher (Alfa Aesar) | US | Lab-grade | Pieces (REacton); $917 per 5 g [29] |
| 2026-03 | 99.9% | 248,000 | 1 g | Thermo Fisher (Alfa Aesar) | US | Lab-grade | Pieces (REacton); $248 per 1 g [29] |
| 2026-03 | 99.9% | 269,000 | 1 g | Thermo Fisher (Alfa Aesar) | US | Lab-grade | Distilled dendritic pieces; $269 per 1 g [29] |
| 2026-03 | 99.5% | ~3,050 | 1 kg | Metallos.de | DE | Retail | €3,499 (€2,799/kg ex-VAT); sold out [30] |
| 2026-03 | 99.5% | 14,950 | 31.1 g | RWMM | US | Retail | Serialised 1 troy oz ingot; $465; sold out [31] |
| — | 99.9% | — | 50 mm rod | Chemsavers | US | Lab-grade | 6.35 mm dia. rod, $1,868 per 50 mm length [32] |
Widespread stock depletion across Western retailers. Luciteria lists seven Lu products all “get notified when in stock.” Sigma-Aldrich shows “pricing and availability not currently available” for 99.99% dendritic pieces — a likely indicator of supply disruption.
Oxide Offers (Lu2O3) — Laboratory Retail
| Date | Purity | $/kg | Qty | Seller | Country | Category | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-03 | 99.99% (4N) | 25,120 | 25 g | Chemsavers | US | Lab retail | $628 per 25 g; best lab-retail value identified [32] |
| 2026-03 | 99.99% (4N) | 35,840 | 25 g | Thermo Fisher (Alfa Aesar) | US | Lab retail | $896 per 25 g [29] |
| 2026-03 | 99.9% | 41,600 | 5 g | Thermo Fisher (Alfa Aesar) | US | Lab retail | $208 per 5 g [29] |
| 2026-03 | 99.99% (4N) | 76,200 | 5 g | Thermo Fisher (Alfa Aesar) | US | Lab retail | $381 per 5 g [29] |
| 2026-03 | 99.99% (4N) | 88,000 | 5 g | Sigma-Aldrich | US | Lab retail | $440 per 5 g [33] |
| 2026-03 | 99.995% | 118,200 | 5 g | Thermo Fisher (Alfa Aesar) | US | Lab retail | $591 per 5 g; highest-purity listed [29] |
Markup from bulk to lab retail ranges from 35× to 200× depending on quantity and purity grade.
Lu-177 Supply Chain
Indirect route partially insulates radiopharmaceuticals
Most commercial Lu-177 is now produced via the indirect route: neutron activation of enriched ytterbium-176, which beta-decays to carrier-free Lu-177. This pathway depends on Yb-176 enrichment (historically Russia-dependent, now with Kinectrics in Canada expanding capacity) rather than Chinese raw lutetium, partially insulating the radiopharmaceutical supply chain from Announcement No. 18 [34]. The direct route (neutron activation of Lu-176 targets) does require enriched lutetium feedstock and remains vulnerable to Chinese export controls.
Important Notes
Export controls are permanent and fully enforced
Announcement No. 18/2025 has no sunset clause. It was one of the first seven elements controlled in April 2025 and was explicitly excluded from the November 2025 suspension. Multiple international law firms have confirmed it “has not been suspended” [4][5]. Chinese customs enforcement surged 248% in 2025, and Japan formally complained at the WTO about licence processing delays [35]. The USGS disruption model for lutetium required imposing a price ceiling to prevent mathematical divergence — a unique indicator of extreme supply vulnerability [21].
Retail inventory depletion signals real supply stress
The most telling indicator is not the commodity benchmark (which rose only 10–15%) but the retail picture: Luciteria, RWMM, and Metallos.de are all sold out of lutetium metal. Sigma-Aldrich shows disrupted availability for high-purity Lu. The best-stocked remaining Western retailer (Smart-Elements, Vienna) holds only tens of grams across all products [28]. Ex-China small-lot specialty pricing has reached $10,000–16,000/kg — 10–20× the Chinese domestic benchmark [20].
Extraordinary downstream value multiplier
Raw lutetium oxide worth perhaps $90–150 M globally enables Novartis Lu-177 drugs generating $2.1 B in 2024 revenue, a PET scanner industry worth $2.5 B in devices and $19.9 B in scanning services, and fundamental physics experiments at CERN [7][10][12][36]. The value multiplier from raw material to end application exceeds 50× — among the highest of any element.
Lutetium hydride superconductivity claim: discredited
The March 2023 Nature claim of room-temperature superconductivity in nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride (LuNxHy) by Ranga Dias was retracted in November 2023 after 8 of 11 co-authors requested withdrawal. The University of Rochester concluded Dias “engaged in research misconduct” including falsification, fabrication, and plagiarism. Multiple independent groups failed to reproduce superconductivity [37].
Physical Properties [38]
Z: 71 · Ar: 174.967 u · ρ: 9.84 g/cm3 · Tm: 1,663 °C · Tb: 3,402 °CCrystal: hcp · Config: [Xe]4f145d16s2 · Ox. states: +3 · Rarest naturally occurring lanthanide (~0.5 ppm crustal; ~0.0001% of monazite) · Named after Lutetia (Latin for Paris)
References
- MOFCOM/GAC, Announcement No. 18/2025, “Export Control of Medium and Heavy Rare Earth Related Items,” effective 4 Apr 2025. english.mofcom.gov.cn.
- Holland & Knight LLP, “China’s Rare Earth Export Controls: Scope, Implementation, and Impact,” Apr–May 2025. hklaw.com.
- CIRS Group, “MOFCOM Dual-Use Export Licensing: Processing Times and Requirements,” 2025. cirs-group.com.
- Clark Hill PLC, “China’s Export Controls: Tracking the Suspensions and Still-Active Measures,” Nov 2025. clarkhill.com.
- Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, “China Suspends Export Controls on Certain Critical Minerals,” Nov 2025. pillsburylaw.com.
- International Energy Agency, “European Rare Earth Prices Reach Up to Six Times Chinese Domestic Levels,” 2025. iea.org.
- Precision Medicine Online, “Novartis Pluvicto and Lutathera 2024 Revenue: $2.1 Billion Combined,” Feb 2026. precisionmedicineonline.com.
- Fierce Pharma, “FDA Expands Pluvicto Indication to Pre-Chemotherapy mCRPC,” Mar 2025. fiercepharma.com.
- IMARC Group, “Lu-177 Radiopharmaceutical Market: Projected $6.4–14.7 Billion by Early 2030s,” 2025–2026. imarcgroup.com.
- Epic-Scintillator / Wallson, “LYSO and LSO Scintillation Crystal Properties,” technical reference. epic-crystal.com.
- Siemens Healthineers, “Biograph PET/CT Detector Technology,” product documentation. siemens-healthineers.com.
- Polaris Market Research, “PET/CT Scanner Market: ~$2.5 Billion in 2024.” polarismarketresearch.com.
- CERN, “CMS Barrel Timing Layer: LYSO-Based Upgrade for HL-LHC.” cms.cern.
- Thermo Fisher Scientific, Goodfellow, and MSE Supplies product catalogues; Lu₂O₃ applications. Various.
- NovaElements and Made-in-China.com, LuAG phosphor and optics product listings.
- Earthrarest.com, “Lutetium: Market Size, Production, and Supply Chain Overview,” 2025–2026. earthrarest.com. Corroborated by RWMM, Luciteria, Wikipedia.
- DiscoveryAlert, “China’s Heavy Rare Earth Separation Capacity,” 2025. discoveryalert.com.au.
- Shanghai Metals Market (SMM), Lu₂O₃ 4N pricing, Jan 2026. CNY 5,150/kg (~$653 ex-VAT, ~$738 with VAT).
- BusinessAnalytiq, “Lutetium Oxide Price Index,” $706.88/kg NE Asia, Mar 2026. businessanalytiq.com.
- Raremetals.net, small-lot specialty pricing: $10,000–12,000/kg FOB China, $14,000–16,000/kg European spot, May 2025. raremetals.net.
- USGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries: Rare Earths, Jan 2025. “Highest risk” designation; price ceiling required for disruption model. pubs.usgs.gov.
- Earthrarest.com, 3-month Lu₂O₃ spot average, ~$640/kg. earthrarest.com.
- Various Alibaba listings: Lu₂O₃ $690–$5,000/kg depending on purity and lot size, surveyed Mar 2026.
- Ganzhou Wanfeng Advanced Materials, Made-in-China.com listing: Lu₂O₃ and Lu metal, MOQ 1 kg, FOB Shanghai/Qingdao.
- IMARC Group, Q3 2025 regional data: China at $874.50/kg. imarcgroup.com.
- eBay marketplace listings (Luciteria, chineseelements, bacy6014, NovaElements), surveyed Mar 2026.
- PEGUYS LLC. Lu metal 1 g listing, Mar 2026.
- Smart-Elements GmbH, Vienna. Lu metal product listings (0.85–24.75 g), Mar 2026.
- Thermo Fisher Scientific / Alfa Aesar. Lu metal and Lu₂O₃ listings, Mar 2026.
- Metallos.de. Lu metal 1 kg listing, €3,499; sold out, Mar 2026.
- Rare World Metals Mint (RWMM). Lu 1 troy oz serialised ingot, $465; sold out, Mar 2026.
- Chemsavers Inc. Lu metal rod and Lu₂O₃ listings, Mar 2026.
- Sigma-Aldrich. Lu₂O₃ 5 g listings (99.9% at $467, 99.99% at $440); 99.99% dendritic pieces “pricing not currently available.”
- Springer, “Indirect Production of Carrier-Free Lu-177 via Yb-176 Neutron Activation,” nuclear medicine review. link.springer.com. Wikipedia, “Lutetium-177.”
- WTO / Rare Earth Exchanges, Japan’s formal complaint re: Chinese export licence processing times, Jun 2025; Lexology, customs enforcement surge data.
- Data Bridge Market Research, PET scanning services market ~$19.9 B. databridgemarketresearch.com.
- Nature retraction notice, Nov 2023; University of Rochester misconduct findings, Mar 2024. Multiple independent replication failures.
- Wolfram Alpha, “Lutetium element.” wolframalpha.com.