Selenium: Criticality

High importance, low risk: why the lists disagree

What this tab covers How exposed economies are to a supply disruption: the EU, US and India listings, the concentration score, and a quantified exposure for the US, EU, India, China, Japan, Latin America, the Middle East and Australia. Where the EU scored it, a chart of supply risk against economic importance, with import reliance, recycling input and substitutes.

Exposure by region

Region	Exposure	Share of world output	Share of world imports	Share of world exports	Net trade (US$)	On own critical list	Position
US	High	2.4%	7.4%	2.5%	−$4.07 m	No	Produces crude selenium and slimes at two refineries but refines none, relies on imports for more than 50% of use, and does not list selenium as critical (USGS 2026).
EU	Low	12.8%	15.6%	18.7%	+$4.12 m	No	Refines selenium in Belgium (200 t), Germany (47 t), Poland (67 t) and Finland (39 t), has low import reliance (2%), and does not list it as critical (USGS 2026; EU CRM 2023).
India	High	1.4%	13.8%	1.6%	−$10.5 m	Yes	Refines about 90 t a year (USGS 2025e) but imports much more, taking 13.8% of world imports in 2024 (Comtrade); selenium is on India's 2023 critical list.
China	Medium	42.5%	28.5%	11.4%	−$14.0 m	No	Refined about 2,000 t in 2025, 53% of world output, and is also the largest importer (28.5% of 2024 imports) because of its manganese industry (USGS 2026; Comtrade).
Japan	Low	18.4%	0.3%	16.6%	+$15.5 m	Yes	Refined about 640 t in 2025 and is the largest exporter, 16.6% of 2024 world exports by value (USGS 2026; Comtrade).
Latin America	Medium	5.0%	5.3%	3.6%	−$1.19 m	no list	Mexico (88 t) and Peru (48 t) refine selenium, and Chile and Mexico are major suppliers to the US (USGS 2026).
Middle East	Low	0.0%	0.6%	0.0%	−$541k	no list	Turkey refined about 43 t in 2025 and Iran may produce some (USGS 2026).
Australia	Low	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	+$114	Yes	May produce refined selenium, but USGS has no reliable estimate (USGS 2026).

Exposure rating: High when the region is a net importer whose import share is at least three times its share of world output (or, for farm goods, it produces under 70% of what it consumes); Medium for other net importers (or 70-95% self-sufficiency), raised to High when world supply is highly concentrated in another country; Low for net exporters or self-sufficient regions. Net importer status uses tonnage where reported, otherwise value. Output: World Mining Data, 2024. Trade: UN Comtrade 2024 (EU = sum of member states, including intra-EU trade). Critical lists: US 2025, EU 2024/1252, India 2023, China 2016 strategic minerals, Japan METI, Australia 2024.

Selenium is a mixed case. The EU rates its economic importance high (4.8) but supply risk low (0.3), so it is not on the EU critical list. The US 2025 list omits it, while India's 2023 list includes it. Companionality is about 95%, mostly with copper, and Graedel and colleagues flag by-product supply as a driver of supply risk (pdf p. 5). Substitutes exist for many uses: sulphur dioxide in manganese electrolysis, cerium oxide in glass, tellurium or bismuth in free-machining alloys. Most work less well or cost more energy.

EU 2023 Not critical US 2025 list No India 2023 list Yes Production HHI 2,280 moderately concentrated

EU 2023 assessment

Chart: EU 2023 criticality: supply risk against economic importance

Each dot is a material assessed by the EU in 2023. The shaded corner is the critical zone (supply risk ≥ 1.0, economic importance ≥ 2.8). Selenium: supply risk 0.3, economic importance 4.8. EU import reliance, processing 2% EU recycling input rate 1%

Substitutes

Silicon in rectifiers; cerium oxide in glass; bismuth, lead or tellurium in alloys; sulphur dioxide in manganese electrolysis; a-Si and CdTe compete with CIGS