Arsenic — Structural brief
How the supply chain for this commodity is shaped: where it is mined, where it is processed, and which step is the bottleneck.
At a glance
- Largest producer
- Peru 50%
- USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026
- Top 3 producers
- 97%
- share of world output
- Concentration (HHI)
- 4,099
- highly concentrated
- Producing countries
- 6
- 2 supply half
- Export measures
- 0
- USGS compilation, Jan 2026
- US import reliance
- 100%
- net, 2025 (USGS)
Key findings
What the evidence shows
World production and the largest producer
The USGS puts world production at 61,000 metric tons. Peru is the largest producer with 50% of the total.
How concentrated supply is
The Herfindahl-Hirschman index over country shares is 4,099 (highly concentrated). The top three producers hold 97%; 2 countries supply half.
United States import reliance
The United States relied on net imports for 100% of its use in 2025; main sources: China, Malaysia, Morocco.
In this report
The questions it answers
Supply
Who produces it
Below 1,500 is read as unconcentrated and above 2,500 as highly concentrated (US merger-review bands, used as a reference point).
Full analysis and cited sources
Where arsenic is produced
Peru is the largest producer of arsenic, at 49.6 percent of the published world total in 2025[1]. It is followed by China at 39.6 percent, Morocco at 8.3 percent and Belgium at 1.7 percent. The USGS puts world production at 61,000 metric tons; the sum of the country figures is 60,540 metric tons, the difference being rounding in the published total.[1]
How concentrated supply is
Measured by the Herfindahl-Hirschman index over production shares, arsenic supply is highly concentrated, with an index of 4,099. The top three producers hold 97.5 percent of output, and 2 producers together account for half of supply. An index below 1,500 is conventionally read as unconcentrated and above 2,500 as highly concentrated; the thresholds are the United States merger-review bands, used here as a published reference point rather than as a judgement about market conduct. The United States was entirely reliant on net imports for arsenic in 2025, with the principal import sources over 2021–24 being China, Malaysia, Morocco.[2] The principal sources of United States imports over 2021–24 were China (45 percent), Malaysia (30 percent) and Morocco (16 percent)[3].
Trade measures in force
The USGS compilation of export controls effective January 2026 records no measure specific to arsenic. That is a statement about the compiled list, not a guarantee of open trade: measures framed around ores and concentrates generally, or around a broader commodity group, can still apply.
Recent United States official notices
Federal Register documents naming arsenic, most recent first. 2025-11-07: Final 2025 List of Critical Minerals. Critical minerals are essential for national security, economic stability, and supply chain resilience because they underpin key industries, drive technological innovation, and support critical infrastructure vital for a modern American economy. The United States is heavily reliant on imports of certain mineral commodities from foreign sources, some of which are at risk of serious, sustained, and long-term supply chain disruptions.[4]
Arsenic Beneficiation & Cash Flow Simulator
An illustrative model built on typical published cost ranges. Change feed grade and throughput to see how the margin moves.
The model runs in the Workbench: register free to run it 3 times a day.
Contractual Penalty Schedule & Deleterious Limits
Standard commercial deduction guidelines enforced by off-taker smelters and converters for non-compliant impurity concentrations:
Model Cargo Financing, CIF Arbitrage & Letter of Credit
Test physical maritime shipments, demurrage risk, hedging spreads, and working capital cash turns in the Trade Desk.
Executive Briefing & Strategic FAQ
Essential empirical supply-chain and geopolitical questions for market participants and intelligence analysts.
Which countries dominate global mining and refining for Arsenic?▼
Global Arsenic production is characterized by high geographical concentration in both raw extraction and chemical processing, as documented in MiningBridge's empirical supply-chain models.
What are the critical supply chain bottlenecks and geopolitical risks for Arsenic?▼
Key geopolitical and operational risks include export licensing constraints, high chemical conversion barriers, and long lead times for developing non-concentrated commercial refining capacity.
What are the primary commercial uses for Arsenic, and can it be substituted?▼
Arsenic is essential across energy transition, advanced electronics, and defense systems. While direct substitutes exist in select low-performance applications, replacing Arsenic in mission-critical hardware incurs significant metallurgical and cost trade-offs.