# Tellurium: Criticality

Why the US lists tellurium and the EU does not

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/tellurium/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$) | On own critical list | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **US** | n/a | 1.0% | – | – | – | Yes | Produces copper telluride at two refineries but refines no tellurium, so imports refined metal mainly from Canada; it is the largest CdTe module maker's home base and lists tellurium as critical (USGS 2026). |
| **EU** | n/a | 5.0% | – | – | – | No | Does not list tellurium as critical (supply risk 0.3), has 0% import reliance at the processing stage, and was hit hardest by China's 2025 export checks (EU CRM 2023; USGS 2026). |
| **India** | n/a | 0.0% | – | – | – | Yes | Has no published refined output, imported only about 3 t in 2019-20, mostly from China, and lists tellurium as critical (IBM 2020; India 2023 list). |
| **China** | n/a | 78.3% | – | – | – | No | Refined about 800 t in 2025, 80% of world output, on the back of a near-75% rise in copper refining capacity (USGS 2026). |
| **Japan** | n/a | 7.3% | – | – | – | Yes | Refined about 61 t in 2025 from copper anode slimes and supplied 8% of US imports (USGS 2026). |
| **Latin America** | n/a | 0.0% | – | – | – | no list | Chile and Peru mine large amounts of copper, but USGS lists no Latin American refined tellurium output; Chile may produce some (USGS 2026). |
| **Middle East** | n/a | 0.0% | – | – | – | no list | No tellurium production is reported (USGS 2026). |
| **Australia** | n/a | 0.0% | – | – | – | Yes | May produce some refined tellurium, 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 (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.

Tellurium is on the US 2025 and India 2023 lists but not the EU's 2023 list, where supply risk is 0.3 and economic importance 3.8. Its risk is by-product dependence. Output cannot grow much without more electrolytic copper refining, and companionality is about 95%. China supplies about 80% of refined output. Substitutes exist but usually lose efficiency. Amorphous silicon and CIGS compete with CdTe in thin-film solar, and bismuth selenide in thermoelectrics. Polymetallic ores such as Norilsk's yield it among 13 recoverable elements (Humphreys, pdf p. 153).
 EU 2023 Not critical US 2025 list Yes India 2023 list Yes Production HHI 6,242 highly 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). Tellurium: supply risk 0.3, economic importance 3.8. EU import reliance, processing 0% EU recycling input rate 1%

#### Substitutes

Amorphous silicon and CIGS in thin-film solar; bismuth selenide and organic polymers in thermoelectrics; bismuth, calcium, lead, phosphorus, selenium and sulphur in free-machining steels

## Other sections

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