How much of each mineral does the United States import, and how much does it recycle?

Of the 64 minerals USGS gives a net import reliance figure for, the United States met at least half of its 2025 consumption through net imports for 53, and all of it for 16. This page is about the United States only. Net import reliance is imports minus exports as a percent of apparent consumption, so it says nothing about how much any other country imports.

Every figure is from the US Geological Survey's Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026. A figure printed with a greater-than sign (">75") is shown as "more than 75%", and one with a less-than sign as "less than 25%". Minerals marked "on this site" link to their commodity pages; 36 of the 68 are.

Net import reliance, 2025

US net import reliance by mineral, main import sources, recycled supply and change since 2021
Mineral	Net import reliance	Main import sources, 2021-24	Secondary supply	Change since 2021
Arsenic, all forms	100%	China, Malaysia, Morocco	—	0 points
Asbestos	100%	Brazil	—	0 points
Cesium	100%	China, Germany	—	—
Fluorspar	100%	Mexico, Vietnam, China, South Africa	—	0 points
Gallium	100%	Canada, Japan, China, Germany	—	0 points
Graphite (natural)	100%	China, Canada, Mozambique, Mexico	0%	0 points
Indium	100%	Republic of Korea, Japan, China, Canada	—	0 points
Manganese	100%	Gabon, South Africa, Malaysia, Australia	—	0 points
Mica (natural), sheet	100%	China, Vietnam, Brazil, India	—	—
Niobium (columbium)	100%	Brazil, Canada	—	0 points
Rubidium	100%	China, Germany, Russia	—	—
Scandium	100%	Japan, China	—	0 points
Strontium	100%	Mexico, Germany, China	—	0 points
Tantalum	100%	China, Australia, Germany, Indonesia	—	0 points
Titanium, sponge metal	100%	Japan, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan	—	—
Yttrium	100%	China, Germany, Austria	—	0 points
Gemstones	99%	India, Israel, Belgium, South Africa	—	0 points
Xenon	98%	—	—	—
Abrasives, fused aluminum oxide	more than 95%	China, Canada, Brazil, Austria	—	—
Nepheline syenite	more than 95%	Canada	—	—
Krypton	93%	—	—	—
Bismuth	92%	China, Republic of Korea, Germany	8%	0 points
Potash	92%	Canada, Russia, Israel	—	−1 points
Antimony, metal and oxide	91%	China, Belgium, Thailand, India	7.8%	+6 points
Platinum	89%	South Africa, Belgium, Germany, Italy	9.8%	—
Titanium mineral concentrates	88%	South Africa, Canada, Madagascar, Mozambique	—	−2 points
Stone (dimension)	85%	Brazil, Italy, China, India	—	—
Iron oxide pigments, natural and synthetic	84%	China, Germany, Brazil, Canada	—	−3 points
Diamond (industrial), stones	81%	India, South Africa, Russia, Botswana	—	—
Peat	80%	Canada	—	−4 points
Chromium, all forms	79%	South Africa, Kazakhstan, Finland, Canada	20.8%	+3 points
Cobalt	79%	Norway, Finland, Canada, Japan	20.8%	+6 points
Silver	77%	Mexico, Canada, Chile, Turkey	10.6%	+1 points
Tin, refined	77%	Peru, Bolivia, Indonesia, Brazil	39.5%	−3 points
Barite	more than 75%	India, China, Morocco, Mexico	—	—
Bauxite	more than 75%	Jamaica, Turkey, Guyana, Australia	—	—
Magnesium metal	more than 75%	Israel, Canada, Turkey, Czechia	—	—
Rhenium	75%	Chile, Canada, Germany, Poland	—	+5 points
Abrasives, silicon carbide	74%	China, Brazil	—	—
Zinc, refined	73%	Canada, Mexico, Peru, Republic of Korea	—	—
Alumina	71%	Brazil, Jamaica, Australia, Canada	—	—
Garnet (industrial)	71%	South Africa, Australia, China, India	—	+11 points
Rare earths, compounds and metals	67%	China, Malaysia, Estonia, Japan	—	—
Aluminum	60%	Canada, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, China	—	−1 points
Magnesium compounds	59%	China, Brazil, Canada, Israel	—	+3 points
Copper, refined	57%	Chile, Canada, Peru, Mexico	2.7%	+13 points
Palladium	57%	South Africa, Russia, Belgium, Canada	38.5%	—
Neon	52%	—	—	—
Germanium	more than 50%	Belgium, China, Canada, Germany	—	—
Iodine	less than 50%	Chile, Japan	—	—
Lithium	more than 50%	Chile, Argentina	—	—
Selenium	more than 50%	Philippines, Mexico, Chile, Poland	—	—
Silicon, metal and ferrosilicon	more than 50%	Brazil, Canada, Russia, Malaysia	—	—
Tungsten	more than 50%	China, Germany, Bolivia, Vietnam	—	—
Nickel	41%	Canada, Norway, Australia, Brazil	—	+3 points
Vanadium	41%	Canada, Brazil, South Africa, Austria	57.7%	−20 points
Diamond (industrial), bort, grit, and dust and powder	35%	China, Republic of Korea, Ireland	—	—
Mica (natural), scrap and flake	34%	China, Canada, India, Finland	—	—
Lead, refined	33%	Canada, Republic of Korea, Ireland	66.7%	−3 points
Salt	31%	Mexico, Chile, Canada, Egypt	—	−6 points
Bromine	less than 25%	Israel, Jordan, China	—	—
Cadmium	less than 25%	China, Germany, Australia, Peru	—	—
Tellurium	more than 25%	Canada, Philippines, Japan, Germany	—	—
Vermiculite	25%	South Africa, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Uganda	—	+7 points
Zirconium, ores and concentrates	less than 25%	South Africa, Australia, Senegal	—	—
Perlite	23%	Greece, China	—	0 points
Talc	22%	Pakistan, Canada, China	—	—
Cement	21%	Turkey, Canada, Vietnam, Greece	—	+2 points

USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, Mineral Industry Trends and Salient Statistics (Fig. 2, Fig. 13, Table 7) and the data release. Import sources are the countries USGS lists, in descending order of import share; imports from Hong Kong are counted with China. "Change since 2021" is shown only when USGS prints a plain number for both years.

Recycled supply is not a recycling rate

The "secondary supply" column divides USGS's estimate of secondary production (metal recovered from scrap) by apparent consumption, for the 12 minerals where both are plain numbers in the same unit. USGS defines secondary production differently for each metal: some count only old (post-consumer) scrap, some include new scrap from manufacturing, and the consumption figure also differs by metal. Read the column as an indication of how much of US use is met from scrap, not as a measured recycling rate, and not as a figure for any other country. The minerals with the largest ratios here are lead, refined (66.7%), vanadium (57.7%), tin, refined (39.5%).

Where US scrap goes

USGS Figure 13, 2025 estimate. The amount at the right is the value of the metal's scrap, in current US dollars. A large exported share means the scrap leaves the United States instead of being reprocessed there.

More patterns

Concentration: How much of each commodity comes from one country?
Producer or exporter?: Is the biggest producer also the biggest seller abroad?
Prices in real terms: Which prices are records once inflation is removed?
Growth and decline: Whose output is rising or falling fastest?
Linked prices and seasons: Which prices move together, and which have a season?
A century of real prices: Are minerals getting scarcer, judging by their real prices since 1900?
Supplier exposure: Which big buyers lean on one supplier for critical minerals?
Trade after export controls: What happened to a country's exports after it controlled them?
Export share history: Who has gained and lost share of world exports since 2000?
Prices around export controls: What happened to mineral prices after export controls?
Export basket prices: What would a country's commodity exports have fetched at each month's prices?
Substitution coverage: How large are other exporters' sales to other buyers next to an importer's biggest supplier?
Critical risk matrix: Which critical minerals combine concentrated mining, export controls and import reliance?
Country reserve life: Which producing countries have the least of what they mine?
Prices and cumulative output: Do prices fall as the world digs up more of a mineral?
Data confidence: How firm are each commodity's production numbers?
Export controls and bans: Which governments restrict exports of minerals, and what is still in force?
Chokepoints: Which narrow passages do the world's commodities depend on?
By-product minerals: Which minerals are by-products of other metals?
Peak production: Which minerals and fuels are still setting records, and which peaked years ago?
Reserves and mining: Where are the deposits, and who digs them up?
Supply concentration: Which commodities depend on the fewest suppliers?
Land or yield?: Did output grow because farmers planted more or farmed better?
Supply shocks and prices: When world output falls, do prices rise?
Category price indices: How have energy, metals and food prices moved since 1960?
Drawdowns and volatility: How far do prices fall, and do they recover?
Stocks and prices: Are prices lower when the world holds more stock?
Which prices follow oil?: How closely does each commodity track crude oil?
How reliable is the data?: How much of world output rests on estimates?
Net exporters and importers: Who is a net seller and who a net buyer?
Country leaders: Which countries lead across the most commodities?
Export dependency: Which countries rely on one commodity?
Concentration over time: Has production spread out or narrowed?
Import dependency: Which countries buy most of a commodity from one supplier?
Supplier shifts: Who gained and lost importers' business?
Trade price against benchmark: Does traded product sell above or below the benchmark price?
Prices in other currencies: How much of a price move is the dollar?
Do prices lead each other?: Does one commodity price move before another?
Volatility over time: Are prices more volatile than they used to be?
Seasonality: Which prices have a calendar-month pattern?
Price ratios: What does one commodity buy of another, and is that high or low?
El Niño and prices: Do El Niño and La Niña years move commodity prices?
Who consumes it: Which countries consume each commodity, and how much per person?
Self-sufficiency: Which large markets depend on imports, and which produce far more than they use?
Trade flows: Who sells each commodity to whom?

Every figure is computed from the same tables as the commodity pages. The full set is in patterns.json, and single facts from it appear each day on the facts page.