Strontium — Structural brief

Where strontium is produced

Iran is the largest producer of strontium, at 55.5 percent of the published world total in 2025^[1]. It is followed by Spain at 22.2 percent, China at 17.8 percent and Mexico at 4.4 percent. The USGS puts world production at 450,000 metric tons; the sum of the country figures is 450,700 metric tons, the difference being rounding in the published total.^[1] Reserves are held principally by China (12,000,000 metric tons), Iran (2,000,000 metric tons)^[1]. The largest reserve holder is not the largest producer, which is the usual sign that the constraint is capital and permitting rather than geology.

How concentrated supply is

Measured by the Herfindahl-Hirschman index over production shares, strontium supply is highly concentrated, with an index of 3,904. The top three producers hold 95.4 percent of output, and a single producer accounts for more than 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 strontium in 2025, with the principal import sources over 2021–24 being Mexico, Germany, China.^[2]

Trade measures in force

The USGS compilation of export controls effective January 2026 records no measure specific to strontium. 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.