# Sorghum: Criticality

A lifeline for food security in the driest places

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/sorghum/criticality/

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$) | Self-sufficiency | On own critical list | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **US** | Low | 13.6% | 0.1% | 56.7% | +$1.46 bn | 208% | No | Largest producer and exporter: 11.1 Mt produced and 5.2 Mt exported in 2025/26 (USDA), and 56.7% of world export value in 2024 (Comtrade); not on the US critical list. |
| **EU** | Medium | 1.6% | 2.8% | 3.5% | +$7.04 m | 82% | No | Small producer and importer (0.59 Mt imports in 2025/26, USDA); Italy took 1.0% and France supplied 2.2% of world trade value in 2024. |
| **India** | Low | 8.4% | 0.0% | 0.7% | +$18.2 m | 104% | No | Fourth-largest producer (4.36 Mt in 2025-26) and close to self-sufficient, with negligible trade; jowar is a food and fodder crop supported by MSP. |
| **China** | High | 4.8% | 89.0% | 0.1% | −$2.59 bn | 33% | No | Dominant importer: 89.0% of world import value in 2024 and 7.2 Mt of imports in 2025/26, for feed and baijiu. |
| **Japan** | High | 0.0% | 1.4% | 0.0% | −$40.1 m | 0% | No | Small importer for feed (1.4% of world import value in 2024). |
| **Latin America** | Low | 20.6% | 2.0% | 11.5% | +$237.7 m | 112% | no list | Mexico (3.4 Mt production, 0.5 Mt imports) and Brazil (7.0 Mt) are large producers for feed; Argentina exported 1.0 Mt in 2025/26 (USDA). |
| **Middle East** | Low | 0.9% | 0.1% | 0.0% | −$4.22 m | 97% | no list | Minor user; no significant production or imports in the data. |
| **Australia** | Low | 3.8% | 0.0% | 24.4% | +$629.2 m | 1312% | No | Second-largest exporter: 24.4% of world export value in 2024 and 2.3 Mt of exports in 2025/26 (USDA), mostly to China. |

 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: FAOSTAT, 2024. Trade: UN Comtrade 2024 (EU = sum of member states, including intra-EU trade). Self-sufficiency: USDA PSD 2026/27. Critical lists: US 2025, EU 2024/1252, India 2023, China 2016 strategic minerals, Japan METI, Australia 2024.

Sorghum is not on any critical minerals list. Its importance is food security for poor, dry regions. Nigeria, Sudan and Ethiopia appear among the top producers, and much of their crop is eaten at home. A USDA calculation in 1974 found that a small daily ration of grain, sorghum included, would close the calorie gap of the world's malnourished (Morgan, pdf p. 468). Sorghum's heat and drought tolerance makes it a candidate crop as the climate warms. The main market risk is dependence on one buyer, China.
 EU 2023 Not assessed US 2025 list No India 2023 list No Production HHI 656 unconcentrated

## Other sections

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