Relative Market Values for Two Adjacent Periodic Table Groups

Total 2015 sales and weight of sales, along with unit sales prices, for elements in two periodic table groups, Group 4 and 5, were searched for on the Internet.  The found data was compiled and analyzed to come up with what is shown in the following tables:

Group 4	sales	weight in metric tons (mt)	average mt sales price
titanium	$      3,900,000,000	275,000	$        14,182
zirconium	$      4,000,000,000	200,000	$        20,000
hafnium	$            45,000,000	75	$      600,000
cerium	$          350,000,000	50,000	$          7,000
totals	$      8,295,000,000	525,075
Group 5	sales	weight in metric tons (mt)	average mt sales price
vanadium	$          824,500,000	85,000	$          9,700
niobium	$      2,100,000,000	50,000	$        42,000
tantalum	$          342,000,000	1,800	$      190,000
praseodymium	$          450,000,000	9,000	$        50,000
totals	$      2,892,000,000	60,800

This was done to gain knowledge on the relative economic value of elements in a group compared to another group.   Such knowledge might be useful in decision-making about investments.  For example, the tables above show zirconium and niobium with the highest sales in their groups, while also being next to one another in the same periodic row of elements.   Also, from the tables, Group 4 elements recently have had much higher economic value than Group 5 elements ($8.3 billion compared to $2.9 billion).

The values in the tables are approximate.  The variations in the reported sales and weight of sales found on the Internet suggests that uncertainty exists in the amounts reported and therefore amounts such as those given in the tables above should be considered approximate.