Ytterbium Price per kg (United States)

In the past year the monthly price has moved between $17.08 and $17.08.

Measured over the past year, ytterbium is +7.2%.

Ytterbium (Yb) is the dopant in ytterbium fibre lasers, the workhorse of industrial laser cutting and welding. It also supports medicine as the starting material for some lutetium-177 cancer treatments, and science through optical atomic clocks of extraordinary precision.

Other uses

• Stainless steel additive
• Stress gauges for earthquake and explosion monitoring
• Research in quantum technologies
• Specialty glass

Ytterbium is a heavy rare earth produced in small volumes, mainly in China. Demand comes from fibre lasers, medical isotopes and research, and is growing steadily with industrial laser adoption. Its price follows heavy rare earth output and Chinese export policy.

What moves the price

• Heavy rare earth output and export policy
• Industrial fibre laser demand
• Medical isotope production
• Research demand

Ytterbium has a small market, with prices following heavy rare earth supply and Chinese policy rather than open trading.

As of October 2026, the Stockatomics benchmark price is $17.08 per kg contained.

Ytterbium is produced in small amounts from heavy rare earth deposits, mostly the ionic clays of China and Myanmar, and is separated almost entirely in China.

Ytterbium is on the US critical minerals list, and the heavy rare earths are on the EU critical raw materials list. Industrial lasers and medical isotopes depend on it, volumes are small, and separation is concentrated in China.

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

Converting the price

• Ytterbium oxide contains about 88% ytterbium