Magnesium Price Today — Live Spot Rate and Market Data

The magnesium price stands at $2,078.25 per tonne for standard 99.90% purity ingot as of 3 August 2026, according to SMM (Shanghai Metals Market) pricing for Shaanxi-origin material, down from $2,321.17/tonne in July — a decline of approximately 10.5%. Trading Economics’ CNY-denominated benchmark has not been updated this cycle; see note below table. The magnesium price varies meaningfully by export destination, with international buyers paying a premium over the China domestic spot price reflected here — a relationship that has reverted to its normal pattern this month after briefly inverting in July.

Current Magnesium Price

China dominates global magnesium production, accounting for roughly 87% of world output, almost entirely via the energy-intensive Pidgeon process, according to USGS. This concentration means Chinese domestic pricing, reported by SMM, functions as the de facto global benchmark, with international buyers paying export and freight premiums on top of the domestic price shown below.

The gap between the Shaanxi domestic price ($2,078.25/tonne) and the FOB Tianjin export price ($2,300.00/tonne) has reverted to the normal pattern this month, with export pricing sitting comfortably above domestic once again after briefly inverting in July. That reversal supports the earlier suggestion that July’s inversion reflected domestic pricing catching up faster than export quotes, rather than a genuine structural shift in the China domestic/export relationship. The CIF Netherlands landed price ($2,430.00/tonne) also sits further above the domestic figure than it did last cycle, consistent with the spread widening back out.

Magnesium Price Per Gram, Per Kilogram and Per Pound

The table below converts the current Shaanxi 99.90% magnesium ingot benchmark — SMM’s primary domestic magnesium price reference — into smaller and larger units.

Magnesium is traded almost exclusively in bulk tonne quantities given its role as an industrial structural and alloying metal; per-gram and per-pound figures are included for comparison purposes but have limited practical relevance to buyers. Higher-purity 99.98% magnesium ingot, used in specialty applications, trades at a substantial premium to standard 99.90% grade — SMM lists this grade at an average of $3,842.80/tonne as of 3 August 2026, down from $4,304.46/tonne in July, though with considerably wider day-to-day variation than standard grades. Prices are indicative and updated monthly. For live exchange data, consult Shanghai Metals Market directly.

Magnesium Price History and Market Context

Magnesium prices have shown notable long-term volatility, with Trading Economics data spanning 2012 to 2026 showing a historical range from a low of 12,550 CNY/tonne to a high of 71,500 CNY/tonne. The current SMM domestic price of $2,078.25/tonne marks a meaningful single-month decline and sits well below the historical CNY peak, which occurred during a period of acute supply disruption when Chinese government energy restrictions sharply curtailed magnesium smelting capacity.

The episode that drove magnesium to its historical peak illustrates the structural vulnerability of a supply chain concentrated almost entirely in one country. In 2021, Chinese authorities curtailed industrial energy availability as part of broader emissions policy, forcing magnesium smelters — among the most energy-intensive operations in metals production — to cut output sharply. This triggered a rapid, severe price spike that disrupted aluminium alloy and automotive supply chains globally, since magnesium has few practical substitutes in its primary aluminium-alloying application. While prices have since normalised well below that peak, the episode remains a frequently cited example of critical minerals supply concentration risk. This month’s pullback, following July’s rise, is a reminder that the domestic benchmark can move meaningfully in either direction month to month even without a curtailment-scale event.

Magnesium Price in USD, EUR, GBP and Other Currencies

Magnesium is priced and traded primarily in Chinese yuan within the domestic market, with USD used for international contracts and export pricing. The table below converts the current Shaanxi 99.90% ingot benchmark into the six currencies most relevant to CMN’s readership.

Note that the CNY figure above (¥14,032.14) is a currency conversion of the USD-denominated SMM benchmark, and differs from Trading Economics’ native CNY quote of 17,400 per tonne, which has not been refreshed this cycle. This gap reflects differences in how each provider sources and reports the domestic Chinese price, and buyers transacting directly in the Chinese market should reference SMM or Trading Economics’ native CNY figures rather than this converted equivalent.

What Drives the Magnesium Price?

The magnesium price is shaped overwhelmingly by Chinese production economics, given the extreme concentration of global supply, alongside structural demand from the automotive and aluminium alloying industries.

Extreme Supply Concentration in China

China produces approximately 87% of the world’s magnesium, almost entirely via the silicothermic Pidgeon process, which reduces magnesium oxide using ferrosilicon at high temperature. This process is highly energy-intensive, making Chinese energy policy and electricity costs a direct and outsized determinant of global magnesium supply and pricing. The United States, once the dominant global supplier through the mid-1990s, now accounts for a small fraction of output, with a single domestic producer remaining.

Energy Policy and Production Curtailments

Because the Pidgeon process consumes large amounts of energy, Chinese government policy on industrial energy allocation has a direct and sometimes dramatic effect on magnesium supply. The 2021 energy curtailment episode, which sent prices to their historical peak, remains the clearest illustration of this dynamic and is frequently cited in critical minerals supply chain risk assessments precisely because it demonstrated how quickly a policy-driven production cut in one country can disrupt a globally essential input. This month’s softer domestic pricing, following July’s rise, is a reminder of how quickly Chinese-side conditions can move the benchmark in either direction.

Aluminium Alloying Demand

The largest end-use for magnesium is as an alloying element in aluminium, where even small additions improve strength and corrosion resistance. Aluminium-magnesium alloys are used extensively in beverage cans, automotive components, and general structural applications. Demand for magnesium therefore tracks aluminium alloy production closely, particularly in automotive and packaging end-markets — see CMN’s aluminium price page for the parallel benchmark.

Die-Casting and Automotive Lightweighting

Magnesium die-casting alloys, used directly (rather than as an aluminium additive) in automotive components, electronics housings, and aerospace parts, represent a growing demand category driven by the broader industry push toward vehicle lightweighting to improve fuel economy and, increasingly, electric vehicle range. Magnesium is roughly two-thirds the density of aluminium, giving it a structural weight advantage in applications where this trade-off justifies its higher cost and greater flammability handling requirements.

Desulphurisation and Steelmaking

Magnesium is also consumed in steelmaking as a desulphurising agent, removing sulphur impurities during the iron and steel production process. While a smaller end-use than aluminium alloying, this provides a secondary demand link to global steel production volumes, particularly in regions with sulphur-rich iron ore feedstocks.

Magnesium Supply Chain and Critical Minerals Context

Magnesium presents one of the starkest examples of single-country supply concentration among the metals tracked on this site, with China’s 87% production share exceeding even niobium’s Brazilian concentration in relative terms, if not in absolute monopoly structure. The 2021 price spike demonstrated in practice what this concentration means for downstream industries: a domestic Chinese policy decision, unrelated to global magnesium demand, can disrupt aluminium alloy and automotive supply chains worldwide within weeks.

This has prompted renewed Western interest in alternative magnesium production technologies, including electrolytic and solid oxide membrane processes that could in principle be deployed outside China, though none has yet achieved cost parity with the Pidgeon process at scale. Several governments have identified magnesium production capacity as a strategic priority for this reason, distinct from the more commonly discussed battery and rare earth supply chain risks.

For coverage of related structural and alloying metals, see CMN’s Mining section.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Prices are subject to change without notice.