Holmium — 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 74%
- MiningBridge estimate from USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 totals
- Top 3 producers
- 93%
- share of world output
- Concentration (HHI)
- 5,679
- highly concentrated
- Producing countries
- 6
- 1 supply half
- Export measures
- 0
- USGS compilation, Jan 2026
Key findings
What the evidence shows
Holmium Derived Supply: Geochemical Prill Split from USGS Total REO
World Total Rare Earth Oxide (REO) mine production is 390,000 metric tons (USGS MCS 2026, China 69%). Individual elemental mine production is not reported by USGS. An illustrative MiningBridge estimate derived from USGS MCS 2026 Total REO applied to canonical carbonatite/monazite elemental prill splits (method: geochemical mineral lattice distribution across primary deposits) indicates holmium supply of approximately 380 metric tons Ho2O3 equivalent, with China controlling ~74%.
How concentrated supply is
The Herfindahl-Hirschman index over country shares is 5,679 (highly concentrated). The top three producers hold 93%; 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
China is the largest producer of holmium, at 73.7 percent of the output recorded across producing countries in 2024. It is followed by Myanmar at 14.5 percent, Australia at 4.7 percent and United States at 3.2 percent. The country figures sum to 380 metric tons Ho2O3 equivalent.[1]
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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 430 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 Holmium?▼
Global Holmium 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 Holmium?▼
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 Holmium, and can it be substituted?▼
Holmium is essential across energy transition, advanced electronics, and defense systems. While direct substitutes exist in select low-performance applications, replacing Holmium in mission-critical hardware incurs significant metallurgical and cost trade-offs.