Selenium: Characteristics
A non-metal valued for its chemistry, not its strength
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 3,800 t refined selenium (2025e), 3,670 t in 2024 | China refined 2,000 t, Japan 640 t, Russia 320 t, Belgium 200 t and Canada 130 t. India refined about 90 t. US output of crude selenium is withheld and excluded. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Inventory and stock levels | not published; no exchange or government stocks | US producer stocks are withheld and there is no US stockpile. Unrecovered selenium in slimes is the buffer: about 4,600 t could have been recovered in 2008 against output of 3,000-3,500 t. | USGS MCS 2026; USGS Circular 1365 (2010) |
| Capacity utilisation | about 75% of refinery capacity (3,800 t output against 5,100 t capacity, 2025e, derived) | China ran at 80% (2,000 of 2,500 t), Japan 80%, Russia 91%, India 90% (90 of 100 t). Finland (39 of 170 t) and Mexico (88 of 190 t) were well below half. | USGS MCS 2026 (derived) |
| Geographic and producer concentration | China about 52%, top 3 (China, Japan, Russia) about 77%, HHI about 3,100 (2025, derived); WMD 2024 HHI 2,280 | Company shares are not published. Producers are copper refiners: Chinese groups, Japanese refiners, Umicore (Belgium), KGHM (Poland), Hindalco (India). | USGS MCS 2026 (derived); World Mining Data 2026 |
| Supply elasticity | low: by-product of copper refining (companionality about 95%) | Copper refining does not respond to selenium prices. About 1,300 t of spare refinery capacity can respond within months; beyond that, new slime circuits take one to three years. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Project pipeline and CapEx | Kazakhstan plant about 75 t/yr; spare capacity about 1,300 t | A new Kazakh plant shipped its first refined selenium (99.5%) in January 2025 and made about 50 t that year. Growth otherwise follows new copper refineries, mostly in China and India. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Logistics and export flows | world HS 280490 exports about $95 million (2024) | Japan (16.6%), the Philippines (13.9%), Hong Kong (13.6%) and China (11.4%) led exports by value; China (28.5%), Hong Kong (17.6%) and India (13.8%) led imports. Material moves in drums by container. Hong Kong is a re-export hub. | UN Comtrade 2024 |
Material characteristics Metal / hard commodity
Selenium is a non-metal sold as grey powder, shot or compounds. Its commercial value rests on chemistry more than strength: it decolourises glass, raises current efficiency in electrolytic manganese, is an essential trace nutrient, and is photoconductive. Purity and physical form decide whether it goes to glass and metallurgy, to feed and pharmaceuticals, or to electronics.
| Property | Value / specification | Why it matters | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purity / grade | 99.5% min (US and Rotterdam benchmarks); 99.99-99.999% for electronics and CIGS | Sets the benchmark price; feed and pharma grades also have heavy-metal limits | Argus via USGS MCS 2026; Aurubis EFD Selenium 2025 |
| Melting point and density | 221 C; 4.81 g/cm3 (grey) | Low melting point makes it easy to dose into glass melts and alloys | CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics |
| Photoconductivity | conductivity rises sharply under light | Basis of early photocells and xerography drums; now mostly replaced by silicon and organic photoconductors | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Band gap of CIGS | about 1.0-1.7 eV, tunable with Ga/In ratio | Selenium is the anion in CIGS thin-film solar cells | NREL (indicative) |
| Nutritional role | essential trace element; adult recommended intake 55 micrograms a day | Supports feed premix and supplement demand, with tight toxicity limits | US NIH Office of Dietary Supplements |
| Physical form | powder, granules, shot; selenium dioxide and sodium selenite | Manganese electrolysis uses selenium dioxide; feed uses sodium selenite | USGS MCS 2026; Aurubis EFD Selenium 2025 |