Magnesium: Criticality

Why the EU gives it one of the highest risk scores

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	2.2%	18.4%	2.1%	−$317.8 m	Yes	No primary production since 2022, the Utah smelter's operator in Chapter 11 since September 2025, net import reliance over 75%, and magnesium on the 2025 US critical minerals list (USGS 2026).
EU	High	8.0%	31.0%	17.1%	−$246.0 m	Yes	No primary production; China supplies 91% of world primary magnesium and the EU lists magnesium as critical and strategic, with a 13% end-of-life recycling input rate (EU CRM 2023).
India	High	0.6%	5.5%	0.4%	−$99.0 m	No	No primary metal; imported 5.5% of world HS 8104 by value ($108 million) in 2024 (Comtrade), mines 85 kt of magnesite and was not on the 2023 national critical list.
China	Low	66.5%	0.3%	60.3%	+$1.28 bn	No	Produced 950 kt of the world's 1,100 kt in 2025 with 1,480 kt of capacity (USGS) and 60.3% of world HS 8104 exports by value in 2024 (Comtrade).
Japan	High	0.0%	5.2%	0.1%	−$100.4 m	Yes	No primary metal; imported 5.2% of world HS 8104 by value ($103 million) in 2024 (Comtrade); a Japanese steel refiner took a trial magnesite cargo from Australia in October 2025 (USGS).
Latin America	High	5.9%	5.5%	2.0%	−$66.5 m	no list	Brazil produces about 20 kt of primary magnesium and 1.8 Mt of magnesite a year; Mexico was the largest supplier of sheet and powder to the US in 2021-24 (USGS).
Middle East	High	1.1%	4.1%	5.8%	+$42.1 m	no list	Israel produced 20 kt and Iran 5 kt of primary magnesium in 2025, and Turkey 15 kt plus 1.6 Mt of magnesite (USGS).
Australia	Low	1.9%	0.4%	0.0%	−$7.32 m	Yes	No primary magnesium metal; mined 400 kt of magnesite in 2025 with 280 Mt of reserves and began trial shipments to Japan (USGS).

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.

Magnesium is critical and strategic for the EU, with supply risk 4.1 and economic importance 7.4, and it is on the US 2025 list. India's 2023 list omits it. The risk is not geological but the near-monopoly of Chinese smelting, exposed by the 2021 power cuts. Studies flag it as critical despite its crustal abundance because production is concentrated in China (Hayes & McCullough, pdf p. 6). Aluminium and zinc can replace it in castings at a weight penalty. Calcium carbide can replace it in steel desulfurisation.

EU 2023 Critical also a strategic raw material US 2025 list Yes India 2023 list No Production HHI 4,571 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). Magnesium: supply risk 4.1, economic importance 7.4. EU import reliance, processing 100% EU recycling input rate 13%

Substitutes

Aluminium and zinc in castings and wrought products; calcium carbide in steel desulfurisation; alumina, chromite and silica for magnesia in refractories