Lutetium Price per kg (United States)

Over the past 12 months it has ranged from $1,010 to $1,010 per kg contained.

Over one year the price has changed +13.8%.

Lutetium (Lu) is the heaviest and rarest of the commercial rare earths, and its main use is in the scintillation crystals of PET scanners, which turn gamma rays into light to produce images. It also underpins one of the most promising cancer treatments: lutetium-177 radiopharmaceuticals, which target prostate cancer and neuroendocrine tumours.

Other uses

• Catalysts in petroleum refining
• Host crystals for lasers
• Research in high-density optical materials
• Garnets for electronics

Lutetium is the scarcest of the commercial rare earths, produced in tiny amounts from heavy rare earth deposits, mainly in China. Demand from PET scanner crystals and catalysts is small but specialised, and the rise of lutetium-177 cancer therapies has added a high-value medical niche. China's export controls on heavy rare earths make supply outside China a concern.

What moves the price

• Chinese export controls and output
• Medical imaging and radiopharmaceutical demand
• Separation capacity outside China
• Research and specialty uses

Lutetium has a small market whose price follows heavy rare earth supply. China's 2025 export controls on lutetium, together with growing medical demand, have tightened availability outside China.

As of October 2026, the Stockatomics benchmark price is $1,010 per kg contained.

Lutetium is produced in very small amounts from heavy rare earth deposits, mostly in China, which separates nearly all of it. The ionic clays of southern China and Myanmar are the richest sources.

Lutetium is on the US critical minerals list, and the heavy rare earths are on the EU critical raw materials list. Medical imaging and cancer therapy depend on it, volumes are tiny, and separation is concentrated in China, which has placed it under export control.

Stockatomics publishes a US benchmark price for lutetium in US dollars per kg contained, reading as of October 2026. The price is quoted per kg of oxide, not for a scanner crystal. US trade in lutetium is very thin, so its price moves less often than those of the higher-volume minerals.

Converting the price

• Lutetium oxide contains about 88% lutetium