Arsenic Price: Range, Benchmarks and Drivers

USGS reports the average 2025 price of arsenic at $1.85/lb (arsenic metal, annual average, US warehouse; -6% on 2024). The price has changed by an average of +14% a year since 2021. The table gives the annual averages for each year available, and the sections after it give the dealer price where one is listed and the recent events the sources report.

Arsenic price: what the sources report

What recent events affect the arsenic market?

• 2025. Peru, China and Morocco, in descending order of production, were the leading producers of arsenic trioxide with more than 95% of estimated world production. China supplied more than 80% of US arsenic trioxide imports and more than 90% of arsenic metal imports through July 2025.
• 2025. Malaysia supplied almost all the arsenic acid imported into the United States through July 2025. Arsenic trioxide and primary arsenic metal have not been produced in the United States since 1985.

Frequently asked questions

How much does arsenic cost?

USGS reports the average 2025 price of arsenic at $1.85/lb (arsenic metal, annual average, US warehouse; -6% on 2024).

Which country produces the most arsenic?

Peru produces the most arsenic: an estimated 30,000 t, or 49% of the world total, in 2025, according to the USGS refinery production figures.

Is arsenic a critical mineral?

Yes. Arsenic is on the US, EU and Australian critical minerals lists. Arsenic was already on the 2022 US list and stays on the final 2025 list of 60 minerals. US net import reliance for arsenic in 2025 was 100%.

What is arsenic used for?

Arsenic is used in herbicides, insecticides and wood preservatives, gallium arsenide and related semiconductors and optical materials. Herbicides, insecticides and wood preservatives: more than 80% of US use, mostly arsenic acid for chromated copper arsenate (CCA) preservatives.

Sources

Read on October 14, 2026. Figures on this page come from these documents; where a number is an estimate, the source says so.

1. USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Arsenic. Production, reserves, uses, substitutes, recycling and events
2. USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: introduction (Table 7 and Figures 10A and 10B). Net import reliance, leading producer and price changes for critical minerals
3. Federal Register: Final 2025 List of Critical Minerals
4. EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2024/1252
5. Department of Industry, Science and Resources: Australia’s Critical Minerals List and Strategic Materials List
6. Government of Canada: Canada’s critical minerals
7. USGS Minerals Yearbook 2021: Arsenic (advance release, April 2025)
8. AXT Inc., Form 10-K for 2025 (filed 17 March 2026)