Top Industries purchasing Lutetium (Lu)
Lutetium is one of the rarest and most expensive of the naturally occurring rare earth elements.
Because of its extreme scarcity, its use is restricted to high-value applications where no other element can perform the task.
Major Individual Company Purchasers
Caution: This content was sourced and arranged by AI and thus may be subject to errors, biases, omissions, or antiquation.
This information can provide a general sense of industry dynamics, but may be unreliable in its specifics, or as an isolated basis for investment decisions.
Lutetium is one of the rarest and most expensive of the naturally occurring rare earth elements.
Because of its extreme scarcity, its use is restricted to high-value applications where no other element can perform the task.
| Rank | Industry | Volume (MT) | % Usage | Primary Applications |
| 1 | Nuclear Medicine (Therapeutics) | ~4.50 | 35.0% | -177 isotopes for targeted cancer therapy (Radioligands). |
| 2 | Medical Imaging (Diagnostic) | ~3.80 | 30.0% | LYSO/LSO scintillation crystals for PET scanners. |
| 3 | Oil & Gas (Refining) | ~2.50 | 20.0% | Specialized catalysts for hydrocracking and polymerization. |
| 4 | Scientific Research / R&D | ~0.65 | 5.0% | Quantum computing, atomic clocks, and neutron activation. |
| 5 | Electronics & Semiconductors | ~0.40 | 3.0% | High-k dielectrics and magnetic bubble memory devices. |
| 6 | Aerospace & Defense | ~0.25 | 2.0% | Radiation detectors and specialized optical sensors. |
| 7 | Optical Glass & Fiber Optics | ~0.20 | 1.5% | High-refractive index lenses and laser-doped crystals. |
| 8 | Metallurgy & Special Alloys | ~0.15 | 1.2% | Rare-earth magnets and corrosion-resistant coatings. |
| 9 | Nuclear Power (Instrumentation) | ~0.10 | 0.8% | Neutron flux detectors and monitoring equipment. |
| 10 | Environmental Monitoring | ~0.05 | 0.4% | Scintillation counters for detecting radioactive leaks. |
| 11 | Phosphors & Lighting | ~0.04 | 0.3% | High-efficiency LEDs and fluorescent materials. |
| 12 | Ceramics Engineering | ~0.03 | 0.2% | Transparent ceramics and high-strength glazes. |
| 13 | Dentistry & Prosthetics | ~0.02 | 0.1% | Specialized ceramic materials for dental implants. |
| 14 | Quantum Computing | ~0.01 | <0.1% | Qubits in ion-trap quantum processors. |
| 15 | Industrial Non-Destructive Testing | ~0.01 | <0.1% | X-ray and gamma-ray detectors for weld inspections. |
| 16 | Jewelry & Gemology | Minimal | Trace | Dopant for synthetic optical crystals (lasers). |
| 17 | Marine Exploration | Minimal | Trace | High-pressure deep-sea sensor optics. |
| 18 | Space Technology | Minimal | Trace | Radiation hardening for satellite electronics. |
| 19 | Chemical Synthesis | Minimal | Trace | Chiral catalysts in organic chemistry. |
| 20 | Forensic Science | Minimal | Trace | Specialized markers for isotope-ratio mass spectrometry. |
Major Individual Company Purchasers
- Novartis AG: Currently the largest global purchaser of Lutetium-177. They use it to manufacture their blockbuster radiopharmaceutical drugs Pluvicto (prostate cancer) and Lutathera.
- Siemens Healthineers: A massive consumer of Lutetium-based crystals (LSO/LYSO) for the manufacturing of high-end PET/CT scanners.
- Eli Lilly (via POINT Biopharma): A major buyer involved in developing next-generation radioligand therapies to compete in the oncology market.
- GE HealthCare: Similar to Siemens, they are a primary purchaser of Lutetium scintillation materials for medical imaging hardware.
- ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE: A key industrial purchaser that processes Lutetium-176 (the precursor) into Lutetium-177 for the global medical supply chain.
- BASF / W.R. Grace: These chemical giants purchase Lutetium oxides for use in highly specialized petrochemical catalysts used in oil refineries.
- Bristol Myers Squibb (via RayzeBio): A significant purchaser for their expanding pipeline of actinium and lutetium-based cancer treatments.
- Saint-Gobain Crystals: A primary industrial manufacturer that buys Lutetium oxide to grow the high-purity crystals used in medical, security, and scientific detectors.
- Telix Pharmaceuticals: An Australian-based global company that has secured massive offtake agreements for Lutetium isotopes to support its diagnostic and therapeutic imaging products.
Caution: This content was sourced and arranged by AI and thus may be subject to errors, biases, omissions, or antiquation.
This information can provide a general sense of industry dynamics, but may be unreliable in its specifics, or as an isolated basis for investment decisions.