Scandium: Stocks
Abundant but dilute: where scandium resources lie
What this tab covers How much is left and how much is held. For minerals and energy: reserves, current output, years of supply and recycling for the top five countries. For farm commodities: production, ending stocks and stocks-to-use for the top five producers (USDA, October 2026). It also covers inventories and stockpiles.Top five countries: reserves, output and years of supply
| Country | Reserves t Sc (only Australia quantified: accessible Economic Demonstrated Resources, Dec 2023) | Current output t scandium oxide (2025e) | Years of supply | Recycling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World | – | 80 | – | n/a |
| China | – | – | – | n/a |
| Australia | 34,000 | – | – | n/a |
Recycling
USGS reports no scandium recycling, and the EU end-of-life recycling input rate is 0% (EU CRM 2023). Global reserves are not quantified; Australia's JORC-compliant reserves are 12,000 t Sc. Country output is not published; EU CRM 2023 put processing at China 67%, Russia 17%, and Ukraine, the Philippines, Canada and Kazakhstan about 4% each. No India, China or Japan recycling rate was found.
Global reserves are not quantified. Australia reports about 34,000 t of scandium in accessible economic demonstrated resources, of which 12,000 t meet JORC reserve standards. Resources are abundant but dilute, in Australia, Canada, China, the Philippines, Russia and elsewhere. Recycling is nil: the EU end-of-life recycling input rate is 0%, and USGS reports none. The US is now building a strategic stock. In 2025 the Defense Logistics Agency planned to buy more than 6,000 kg of scandium oxide over five years from Quebec.
Recycling
End-of-life recycling input rate in the EU: 0% of demand met from post-consumer scrap (EU CRM study 2023).None.