# Niobium

A pinch of niobium makes steel stronger and lighter; Brazil supplies over 90% of the world's output.

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

Steel & alloying · No. 18

- EU critical 2023
- US critical 2025
- India critical 2023
- HHI 8,580 · highly concentrated
 Steel & alloying · Foundation · Matter

Nine-tenths of the world's niobium comes from one country, Brazil, yet most people have never heard of it.

Chart: Illustration: Niobium

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Niobium sits in pyrochlore inside carbonatites, unusual igneous rocks made mostly of carbonate minerals. Brazil's deposits in Minas Gerais and Goiás dominate; Canada's Niobec mine is a distant second.

##### Three things to know

1. Just 0.01-0.1% niobium makes pipeline, car and structural steels stronger and tougher.
2. US ferroniobium prices barely moved, staying at $25-26 a kilogram from 2022 to 2025.
3. China holds 6.5 million tonnes of niobium reserves yet mines very little of it.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Pyrochlore ore**Mined from rare carbonatite rocks
2. 2 **Concentrate**Upgraded to Nb2O5 concentrate
3. 3 **Ferroniobium**Reduced to an alloy of about 65% niobium
4. 4 **End uses**Microalloyed steel, superalloys, superconductors
 Covered in [What makes something a commodityCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/what-is-a-commodity/)[Supply, demand and the cost curveCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/supply-demand-costs/)[Prices and cyclesCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/prices-and-cycles/)[How commodities tradeCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/how-commodities-trade/)[How commodities moveCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/how-commodities-move/)[Criticality and geopoliticsCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/criticality-and-geopolitics/)

##### Go deeper pick a tab to open it in full

## Other sections

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