Vanadium: Criticality

Two suppliers, sanctions and by-product risk

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	0.0%	14.1%	2.2%	−$73.2 m	Yes	No mine output since 2020, but secondary output reached 7,500 t in 2025; net import reliance fell to 41% and vanadium is on the 2025 US critical list (USGS).
EU	High	0.0%	41.8%	19.1%	−$154.8 m	Yes	No mine output, 100% import reliant at the extraction stage and vanadium is an EU critical raw material (supply risk 2.3); Germany took 11.4% of world FeV imports in 2024 (EU CRM 2023; UN Comtrade).
India	High	0.0%	4.3%	0.2%	−$24.7 m	Yes	Negligible output (about 0.04% of world, 2024) and an importer of ferrovanadium; vanadium is on India's 2023 critical list (World Mining Data).
China	Low	68.5%	1.1%	27.8%	+$130.3 m	No	Dominant producer (82,000 t, about 75% of 2025 output) mostly as steel co-product, and the leading FeV exporter (27.8% in 2023) (USGS; UN Comtrade).
Japan	High	0.0%	7.9%	2.1%	−$36.9 m	Yes	No mine output; imported 7.9% of world ferrovanadium in 2024 (UN Comtrade).
Latin America	High	5.6%	3.2%	0.0%	−$18.9 m	no list	Brazil mined 5,300 t in 2025 at Largo's Maracas Menchen mine, the main high-purity source outside China (USGS; Largo).
Middle East	High	0.0%	1.5%	0.6%	−$6.19 m	no list	No producers or major traders appear in the USGS table or UN Comtrade top six.
Australia	Low	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	+$0	Yes	Largest reserves in the world (10,000 kt V) but no production in 2025 (USGS).

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 2023 (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.

Vanadium is critical on the EU list, though not strategic, and on the US 2025 and India 2023 lists. The EU scores supply risk at 2.3 and economic importance at 3.9, with 100% import reliance at the processing stage. Risks combine: two countries, China and Russia, supply most of the world, Russia is under sanctions, and about 85% comes as a by-product. Other alloying metals can partly replace vanadium in steel, including manganese, molybdenum, niobium, titanium and tungsten. USGS says nothing acceptable replaces it in aerospace titanium alloys.

EU 2023 Critical US 2025 list Yes India 2023 list Yes Production HHI 5,127 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). Vanadium: supply risk 2.3, economic importance 3.9. EU import reliance, extraction 0% EU import reliance, processing 100% EU recycling input rate 6% US net import reliance, 2025 41% share of apparent consumption

Substitutes

Steels with other alloying elements; manganese, molybdenum, niobium, titanium and tungsten partly interchangeable in steel; platinum and nickel in some catalysts; no acceptable substitute in aerospace titanium alloys