# Boron: Criticality

Why the US listed boron despite exporting it

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/boron/criticality/

What this tab covers How exposed economies are to a supply disruption: the EU, US and India listings, the concentration score, and a quantified exposure for the US, EU, India, China, Japan, Latin America, the Middle East and Australia. Where the EU scored it, a chart of supply risk against economic importance, with import reliance, recycling input and substitutes.

#### Exposure by region

| Region | Exposure | Share of world output | Share of world imports | Share of world exports | Net trade (US$) | On own critical list | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **US** | High | 24.8% | 5.4% | 0.7% | −$23.5 m | Yes | Second-largest producer (output withheld), a net exporter of refined borax and boric acid, and boron was added to the 2025 US critical minerals list after public comment (USGS 2026). |
| **EU** | High | 0.0% | 12.6% | 6.8% | −$33.2 m | Yes | Has no borate mining, imports 100% at extraction with 99% of EU sourcing from Turkey, and lists boron as critical and strategic; Jadar in Serbia is an EU strategic project (EU CRM 2023; USGS 2026). |
| **India** | High | 0.0% | 11.3% | 0.2% | −$54.7 m | No | Has no production and imports natural borates (11.3% of world import value in 2024) plus refined borates from Turkey and the US; not on India's 2023 critical list. |
| **China** | High | 5.3% | 32.1% | 0.5% | −$154.9 m | No | Produces 230 kt B2O3 equivalent from low-grade reserves and is the largest importer (32.1% of world natural borate import value in 2024) (USGS 2026; Comtrade). |
| **Japan** | High | 0.0% | 1.2% | 0.0% | −$5.98 m | Yes | Has no production listed by USGS and imports refined borates, including US boric acid (USGS 2026). |
| **Latin America** | Low | 23.2% | 24.5% | 33.6% | +$19.9 m | no list | Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Peru mine ulexite and crude borates (together about 1,070 kt in 2025), while Brazil is the second-largest importer at 21.3% of value (USGS 2026; Comtrade 2024). |
| **Middle East** | Low | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | +$17k | no list | Turkey, straddling Europe and the Middle East, holds about 950 Mt of reserves and supplied 57.2% of world natural borate exports by value in 2024 (USGS; Comtrade). |
| **Australia** | Low | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.0% | −$642k | No | Has no borate production listed by USGS (2026); an Australia-based developer owns the Nevada lithium-boron project. |

 Exposure rating: **High** when the region is a net importer whose import share is at least three times its share of world output (or, for farm goods, it produces under 70% of what it consumes); **Medium** for other net importers (or 70-95% self-sufficiency), raised to High when world supply is highly concentrated in another country; **Low** for net exporters or self-sufficient regions. Net importer status uses tonnage where reported, otherwise value. Output: World Mining Data, 2024. Trade: UN Comtrade 2024 (EU = sum of member states, including intra-EU trade). Critical lists: US 2025, EU 2024/1252, India 2023, China 2016 strategic minerals, Japan METI, Australia 2024.

Boron is on the EU's critical and strategic lists. Its supply risk score of 3.6 is high, and the EU imports 100% at the extraction stage. The United States added boron to its 2025 critical list after public comment, even though it is a net exporter. India's 2023 list omits it. The risk is Turkish dominance. USGS lists substitutes in detergents, enamels, insulation and soaps, but none for glass. Conway notes that securing boron proved central to making and distributing COVID-19 vaccines.
 EU 2023 Critical also a strategic raw material US 2025 list Yes India 2023 list No Production HHI 2,804 highly concentrated

#### EU 2023 assessment

Chart: EU 2023 criticality: supply risk against economic importance
 Each dot is a material assessed by the EU in 2023. The shaded corner is the critical zone (supply risk ≥ 1.0, economic importance ≥ 2.8). Boron: supply risk 3.6, economic importance 3.9. EU import reliance, extraction 100% EU import reliance, processing 70% EU recycling input rate 1%

#### Substitutes

Sodium percarbonate in detergents; phosphates in some enamels; cellulose, foams and mineral wool in insulation; fatty-acid salts in soaps

## Other sections

- [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/boron/index.md)
- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/boron/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/boron/correlation/index.md)
- [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/boron/extraction/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/boron/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/boron/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/boron/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/boron/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/boron/movement/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/boron/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/boron/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/boron/links/index.md)