# Mica: Cycles A cheap mineral with a stable price Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/mica/cycles/ What this tab covers Price history and what drives booms and busts, including this commodity's super-cycles, the drivers behind them and the metrics to track. It charts monthly prices (World Bank) with a switch to inflation-adjusted annual prices; where there is no World Bank series it uses USGS US prices. Mica is cheap and its prices are stable. US scrap and flake averaged $100/t from 2021 to 2023, then $140/t in 2024 and about $130/t in 2025. Ground mica sold for about $320/t dry and $350/t wet, and sheet splittings for about $1.80/kg. Ground mica demand tracks construction, through joint compound and roofing, and oil drilling. The USGS links lower 2025 use to a fall in US rigs from 582 to 549. Sheet demand follows electrical equipment. #### US price, Scrap and flake mica, US average price 2021 100 2022 100 2023 100 2024 140 2025 130 dollars per metric ton. USGS MCS 2026; 2025 is an estimate. #### Super-cycles in mica Mica has had a strategic boom and a long decline rather than repeating super-cycles. Sheet mica was a war material for radios and electrical equipment in the mid-20th century, and the US kept a government stockpile; USGS lists none today. Plastics, mica paper and synthetic mica then replaced much natural sheet, and India's formal industry shrank. The 2010s brought an ethical shock: investigations into child labour in Jharkhand and Bihar pushed cosmetics and car-paint buyers to trace supply. Prices are low and stable: US scrap and flake went from $100/t (2021) to $130/t (2025). 1. 1940s-1970s Sheet mica was strategic for electrical and electronic equipment. India's Koderma-Giridih belt was a leading source of high-quality muscovite and the US built a government stockpile. No price series in the sources used 2. 1980s-2015 Substitution by plastics and mica paper cut sheet demand, and forest-protection rules closed many formal Indian mines. Trade shifted to scrap collected informally. By 2014-15 India recorded only 636 t of crude mica but exported 140,960 t, 63% to China. India's 2014-15 mica exports were worth about Rs 426 crore (IBM) 3. 2016-2019 Media investigations reported child deaths in illegal Indian mica pits, with an estimate of 22,000 children in the trade. Buyers formed the Responsible Mica Initiative (impact counted since 2017). No price data; Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation estimated 10-20 deaths a month in the mines (2019) 4. 2021-2025 US flake demand fell with lower drilling, while sheet consumption rose 15% in 2025 on imports from China. India's export value fell 16% in 2022-23. US scrap and flake $100/t (2021-23), $140/t (2024), $130/t (2025); splittings $1.90/kg (2021) to $1.80/kg (2025) (USGS) #### What drives the cycle - **Construction (joint compound).** The main bulk use of ground mica in the US. - **Oil and gas drilling.** Rig counts drive lost-circulation mica demand. - **Cosmetics and automotive coatings.** Pearlescent pigments need high-quality mica, much of it from India. - **Electrification.** Mica insulation in motors, heaters and battery packs. - **Supply-chain due diligence.** Child-labour scrutiny can shift buying toward traceable or synthetic mica. #### Metrics to track | Metric | Why it matters | Where to track it | |---|---|---| | **US mica production, imports and prices** | Benchmark data | USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries | | **India mica exports by value and destination** | India's role and China's offtake | IBM Indian Minerals Yearbook; DGCIS; UN Comtrade | | **Responsible Mica Initiative programme reports** | Progress on child labour and traceability | Responsible Mica Initiative | | **US rig count** | Drilling-grade mica demand | Baker Hughes weekly rig count | | **US housing starts** | Joint compound demand | US Census Bureau | ## Other sections - [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/mica/index.md) - [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/mica/overview/index.md) - [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/mica/correlation/index.md) - [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/mica/extraction/index.md) - [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/mica/production/index.md) - [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/mica/stocks/index.md) - [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/mica/trading/index.md) - [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/mica/movement/index.md) - [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/mica/criticality/index.md) - [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/mica/characteristics/index.md) - [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/mica/emissions/index.md) - [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/mica/links/index.md)