Gallium — Supply structure report
Production and refining by country, the processing chokepoint, export-control status, and which producers can actually sell to a third party rather than consuming their own feed.
At a glance
- Largest producer
- China 99%
- USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026
- Top 3 producers
- 100%
- share of world output
- Concentration (HHI)
- 9,804
- highly concentrated
- Producing countries
- 3
- 1 supply half
- Export measures
- 1
- 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 900,000 kilograms. China is the largest producer with 99% of the total.
How concentrated supply is
The Herfindahl-Hirschman index over country shares is 9,804 (highly concentrated). The top three producers hold 100%; 1 country supplies half.
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Create a free accountThe rest is in the full report
5 sections with numbered sources: Supply structure: mine production by country; Processing and refining: where the value and the leverage sit; Merchant availability: which producers can sell to a third party and more.
Full analysis and cited sources
Supply structure: mine production by country
Gallium has no mine production, and analysing it as though it did produces the wrong answer at every step. It is recovered as a byproduct, principally from Bayer-process liquor in alumina refining and secondarily from zinc processing residues[1]. There is no gallium deposit, no gallium reserve base in the ordinary sense, and no gallium mine that could be brought forward in response to price.
Production is correspondingly concentrated. China accounts for approximately 98 percent of world primary low-purity gallium output[1]. That share does not reflect geological endowment — gallium is present in bauxite everywhere bauxite is refined — but the distribution of installed recovery circuits[1]. The United States has no primary production at all and depends entirely on imports and recycled material[1].
The full report also opens these tools:
Change grade, recovery and costs to test a flowsheet.
Typical off-spec deductions for deleterious elements (As, Bi, Sb, etc.).
Model cargo financing, letters of credit and landed cost.
Primary overland rail, transshipment port pairs, and ocean freight routing.
What’s in the full report
5 sections · approximately 548 more words
- 01Supply structure: mine production by country
- 02Processing and refining: where the value and the leverage sit
- 03Merchant availability: which producers can sell to a third party
- 04Export controls and trade measures in force
- 05What would have to change for the structure to change
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 Gallium?▼
Global Gallium 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 Gallium?▼
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 Gallium, and can it be substituted?▼
Gallium is essential across energy transition, advanced electronics, and defense systems. While direct substitutes exist in select low-performance applications, replacing Gallium in mission-critical hardware incurs significant metallurgical and cost trade-offs.