Due to their role in clean energy technologies and semiconductors, critical minerals remain central to government policy agendas and public interest. Like gallium, indium faces rising demand, supply bottlenecks, volatile pricing, and geopolitical headwinds.
Indium is indispensable for modern technologies – from smartphone screens to advanced semiconductors – but transparency in its market is limited, leaving both supply and demand outlooks uncertain.
With China controlling production and tightening export rules, Western markets remain vulnerable. Although alternative technologies are being explored, indium is poised to remain a critical and contested mineral in the years ahead.
Our key takeaways:
- The indium market is extremely small and highly opaque, with China accounting for 70% of refined indium output in 2024.
- Indium’s primary use is in touchscreens, where indium tin oxide (ITO) is essential for transparent conductive coatings.
- Export restrictions imposed by China in February 2025 have added significant geopolitical risk to supply chains.
- While global resources are likely sufficient for the long term, indium is mainly a by-product of zinc production, making new supply sources difficult to identify or develop.
- Demand is strongest in Asia (China, Japan and South Korea), with ongoing growth from electronics, semiconductors, 5G, and solar PV applications, though substitution risk exists.
