# Iron oxide pigments

Rust made useful: cheap, stable red, yellow, brown and black pigments that colour concrete, bricks, paint and plastics.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/iron_oxide/

Industrial minerals · No. 77

- Not on a critical list
 Industrial minerals · Foundation · Matter

Rust made useful: the red of your roof tiles and the yellow of paving blocks come from carefully ground iron oxide.

Chart: Illustration: Iron oxide pigments

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Natural pigments are earths like ochre, sienna and umber dug from shallow deposits; synthetic ones are made from steel-pickling liquor and scrap iron.

##### Three things to know

1. India reported about 3.4 million t of ochre in 2025, more than ten times Germany's 280,000 t of pigment.
2. The US imports 84% of its iron oxide pigments, with China supplying 44% and Germany 30% over 2021-24.
3. The US pigment unit value nearly doubled from $1.03 per kg in 2021 to $1.92 in 2022.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Earth or scrap**Ochre, umber, hematite, or pickling liquor
2. 2 **Mine or react**Dug and washed, or chemically precipitated
3. 3 **Milling**Ground and micronised to fine powder
4. 4 **Colour matching**Blended to a standard shade
5. 5 **Products**Coloured concrete, roof tile, paint, plastics
 Covered in [Colour and protection: dyes, pigments, paints and coatingsChemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/chemicals/dyes-pigments-coatings/)

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## Other sections

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