Rhenium: Characteristics
One of the densest, most heat-proof metals, and why it matters
What this tab covers The supply and physical characteristics of the commodity. Supply: current production, inventories and stocks, capacity utilisation, geographic and producer concentration, how fast supply responds to price, the project pipeline and capital spending, and logistics and export flows. Material: the physical and chemical properties that set its grade, price and end uses (for example purity and conductivity for metals, API gravity, sulfur and energy content for fuels, moisture, protein and fibre quality for crops).Supply volume characteristics
| Characteristic | Figure | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current production volume | about 81 t primary rhenium (2025e), up 1% from 79.8 t; plus 20-25 t secondary | Chile 30 t, China 20 t, Poland 10 t, US 9.8 t and Uzbekistan 7 t. Secondary supply from superalloy scrap excludes closed-loop catalyst recycling. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Inventory and stock levels | not published; no exchange or US government stocks | The US holds no rhenium stockpile. Engine makers and catalyst users hold working stocks under long-term contracts, and the refinery catalyst loop holds a large but unreported tonnage that is recycled rather than sold. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Capacity utilisation | not published | USGS gives no rhenium capacity. Output depends on molybdenite roasted at plants with recovery circuits; USGS assumes 80% of rhenium in concentrate is recovered. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Geographic and producer concentration | Chile about 37%, top 3 (Chile, China, Poland) about 74%, HHI about 2,400 (2025, derived); WMD 2024 HHI 5,210 on a narrower basis | Molymet (Chile) is the largest single producer, with exports of about 18 t in 2015; KGHM (Poland) produced about 7 t in 2014. Top-5 company share is not published. | USGS MCS 2026 (derived); World Mining Data 2026; Cochilco (2016) |
| Supply elasticity | very low for primary supply; moderate for recycling | Rhenium is a by-product of molybdenum, itself mostly a by-product of copper. Recycling responds to price: recyclers need prices consistently above $3,000/kg to cover processing costs. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Project pipeline and CapEx | small: Codelco Molyb about 6-7 t/yr (from 2017) and recycling upgrades | Codelco's Molyb roaster added rhenium recovery of 6,000-7,000 kg a year from 2017. Companies are investing in hydrometallurgical recovery from superalloy scrap after 2025 prices nearly doubled. No large new primary projects are named. | Cochilco (2016); USGS MCS 2026 |
| Logistics and export flows | most output exported as ammonium perrhenate (69.42% Re) or metal pellets | US imports in 2021-24 came from Chile 31%, Canada 27%, Germany 16% and Poland 14%. Volumes are tiny (about 100 t a year worldwide) and move by air or container. The chokepoint is the handful of roasters with recovery circuits. | USGS MCS 2026 |
Material characteristics Metal / hard commodity
Rhenium is one of the densest and most heat-resistant metals. Its commercial value comes from two uses: a few percent in nickel-base single-crystal superalloys lets turbine blades survive above 1,000 C, and platinum-rhenium catalysts make high-octane petrol. Buyers specify purity, form (pellet, powder, ammonium perrhenate) and rhenium content.
| Property | Value / specification | Why it matters | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purity / grade | metal pellets 99.9-99.99% Re; catalytic-grade ammonium perrhenate 69.4% Re | Sets the two benchmark price series and suitability for superalloys or catalysts | Argus via USGS MCS 2026 |
| Melting point | 3,186 C, second highest of all metals after tungsten | Keeps strength at extreme temperature in turbines, thermocouples and heating elements | CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics |
| Density | 21.0 g/cm3 | Adds weight to alloys, so engine makers use only a few percent | CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics |
| Superalloy content | about 3% Re in second-generation single-crystal alloys (e.g. CMSX-4), about 6% in third generation | Raises creep strength above 1,000 C, the main driver of rhenium demand (about 80% of use) | Cannon-Muskegon alloy data (indicative); USGS MCS 2026 |
| Ductility | ductile and work-hardening, no ductile-to-brittle transition | Allows wire and foil forms and alloying with tungsten and molybdenum to improve their ductility | Standard materials literature (indicative) |
| Catalytic activity | Pt-Re reforming catalysts | Resists coking, allowing longer runs in naphtha reforming (about 15% of use) | USGS MCS 2026 |