# Indium: Criticality

Why the EU dropped indium while the US kept it

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/indium/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** | n/a | 0.0% | – | – | – | Yes | Recovers no indium from ore, imported about 220 t in 2025, equal to all its consumption, mainly from Korea (25%), Japan (22%), China (12%) and Canada (11%), and lists indium as critical (USGS 2026). |
| **EU** | n/a | 3.9% | – | – | – | No | Produces more indium than it uses (Belgium and France about 40 t in 2025), so dropped indium from the 2023 critical list; its end-of-life recycling rate is about 1% (EU CRM 2023; USGS 2026). |
| **India** | n/a | 0.0% | – | – | – | Yes | Has no indium refining, imports all its needs, and lists indium as critical (India 2023 list; USGS 2026). |
| **China** | n/a | 67.5% | – | – | – | No | Refined about 760 t in 2025, 70% of world output, and cut unwrought exports 72% after February 2025 restrictions (USGS 2026). |
| **Japan** | n/a | 6.4% | – | – | – | Yes | Refined about 65 t in 2025 and is a leading recycler of ITO scrap and a major ITO target maker (USGS 2026). |
| **Latin America** | n/a | 0.0% | – | – | – | no list | Peru produced about 7 t a year until 2021 and nothing since (World Mining Data 2026); no other output is reported. |
| **Middle East** | n/a | 0.0% | – | – | – | no list | No indium production is reported (USGS 2026). |
| **Australia** | n/a | 0.0% | – | – | – | Yes | No refined indium output is reported despite large zinc mining (USGS 2026). |

 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 (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.

Indium shows how criticality lists diverge. It is on the US 2025 and India 2023 lists but not the EU's 2023 list, where supply risk is 0.6 and economic importance 2.6. It was on the EU's earlier list of 27 critical raw materials (Pitron, pdf p. 185). The US National Research Council placed it in its most critical zone (Humphreys, pdf p. 208). Substitutes for ITO exist in some products and labs. They include antimony tin oxide, carbon nanotubes, PEDOT polymer, copper or silver nanowires, and graphene.
 EU 2023 Not critical US 2025 list Yes India 2023 list Yes Production HHI 4,925 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). Indium: supply risk 0.6, economic importance 2.6. EU import reliance, processing 11% EU recycling input rate 1% US net import reliance, 2025 100% share of apparent consumption

#### Substitutes

Antimony tin oxide, carbon nanotubes, PEDOT, copper or silver nanowires, graphene and zinc oxide for ITO; hafnium in control-rod alloys

## Other sections

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