Market data · Batteries · Critical minerals
Battery critical minerals supply
Where lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel and manganese are mined and held in reserve, and how much of each the U.S. imports.
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Critical minerals supply
Where the world's lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel and manganese are mined and held in reserve, and how much the U.S. imports.
World lithium mine production
metric tons of lithium, excl. U.S. · 2025
290.0K
▲ 30.6% vs. year ago
U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, source
World lithium mine production
Thousand metric tons of contained lithium per year, by country, excluding U.S. output (withheld by the USGS); each year from the latest Mineral Commodity Summaries that reports it
- Australia
- Chile
- China
- Argentina
- Rest of world
View data table
U.S. import reliance
Net imports as a share of apparent U.S. consumption in 2025 (USGS estimate; ">50%" where USGS withholds the exact figure), and the main sources of U.S. imports, 2021–24.
| Mineral | Net import reliance | Main import sources |
|---|---|---|
| Lithium | >50% | Chile 54%, Argentina 43% |
| Cobalt | 79% | Norway 26%, Finland 16%, Canada 14%, Japan 14% (metal, oxide, and salts) |
| Natural graphite | 100% | China 46%, Canada 13%, Mozambique 13%, Mexico 12% |
| Nickel | 41% | Canada 44%, Norway 11%, Australia 8%, Brazil 7% (primary nickel) |
| Manganese | 100% | Gabon 64%, South Africa 24%, Mexico 12% (manganese ore) |
U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, data release
Who mines and refines battery minerals
The largest producing country and the top three countries' share of world supply in 2025, the IEA's base-case projection for 2035, and the U.S. share where the IEA reports it.
| Mineral | Largest producer, 2025 | Top 3 share, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Lithium, refined | China 74% | 95% |
| Nickel, refined | Indonesia 45% | 80% |
| Cobalt, refined | China 76% | 87% |
| Battery-grade graphite | China 94% | 99% |
| Lithium, mined | Australia 34% | 75% |
| Nickel, mined | Indonesia 63% | 79% |
| Cobalt, mined | DR Congo 66% | 83% |
IEA, Critical Minerals Data Explorer (CC BY 4.0)
Lithium: mine production and reserves by country
Metric tons, contained lithium. 2025 figures are USGS estimates. U.S. production: withheld. U.S. net import reliance: >50% in 2025.
| # | Country | 2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia | 92,000 | 31.7% |
| 2 | China | 62,000 | 21.4% |
| 3 | Chile | 56,000 | 19.3% |
| 4 | Zimbabwe | 28,000 | 9.7% |
| 5 | Argentina | 23,000 | 7.9% |
| 6 | Brazil | 12,000 | 4.1% |
| 7 | Mali | 9,400 | 3.2% |
| 8 | Canada | 5,600 | 1.9% |
| 9 | Portugal | 380 | 0.1% |
| Other countries | — | — | |
| World | 290,000 | 100% |
U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, 2026 lithium summary and data release
Cobalt: mine production and reserves by country
Metric tons, cobalt content. 2025 figures are USGS estimates. U.S. production: 300. U.S. net import reliance: 79% in 2025.
| # | Country | 2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Congo (Kinshasa) | 230,000 | 74.2% |
| 2 | Indonesia | 44,000 | 14.2% |
| 3 | Russia | 7,700 | 2.5% |
| 4 | Madagascar | 3,900 | 1.3% |
| 5 | Australia | 3,700 | 1.2% |
| 6 | Philippines | 3,700 | 1.2% |
| 7 | Canada | 3,500 | 1.1% |
| 8 | Papua New Guinea | 2,800 | 0.9% |
| 9 | China | 2,000 | 0.6% |
| 10 | Cuba | 2,000 | 0.6% |
| Other countries | 9,100 | 2.9% | |
| World | 310,000 | 100% |
U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, 2026 cobalt summary and data release
Natural graphite: mine production and reserves by country
Metric tons (natural graphite). 2025 figures are USGS estimates. U.S. production: none. U.S. net import reliance: 100% in 2025.
| # | Country | 2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 1,400,000 | 77.8% |
| 2 | Madagascar | 80,000 | 4.4% |
| 3 | Tanzania | 75,000 | 4.2% |
| 4 | Brazil | 65,000 | 3.6% |
| 5 | Mozambique | 60,000 | 3.3% |
| 6 | Russia | 25,000 | 1.4% |
| 7 | India | 17,000 | 0.9% |
| 8 | Canada | 8,000 | 0.4% |
| 9 | Korea, North | 8,000 | 0.4% |
| 10 | Norway | 6,600 | 0.4% |
| World | 1,800,000 | 100% |
U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, 2026 natural graphite summary and data release
Nickel: mine production and reserves by country
Metric tons, nickel content. 2025 figures are USGS estimates. U.S. production: 10,000. U.S. net import reliance: 41% in 2025.
| # | Country | 2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indonesia | 2,600,000 | 66.7% |
| 2 | Philippines | 270,000 | 6.9% |
| 3 | Russia | 200,000 | 5.1% |
| 4 | Canada | 140,000 | 3.6% |
| 5 | New Caledonia | 140,000 | 3.6% |
| 6 | China | 120,000 | 3.1% |
| 7 | Brazil | 70,000 | 1.8% |
| 8 | Australia | 45,000 | 1.2% |
| 9 | United States | 10,000 | 0.3% |
| Other countries | 290,000 | 7.4% | |
| World | 3,900,000 | 100% |
U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, 2026 nickel summary and data release
Manganese: mine production and reserves by country
Thousand metric tons, manganese content. 2025 figures are USGS estimates. U.S. production: none. U.S. net import reliance: 100% in 2025.
| # | Country | 2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Africa | 7,600 | 38.0% |
| 2 | Gabon | 5,000 | 25.0% |
| 3 | Ghana | 2,000 | 10.0% |
| 4 | Australia | 1,600 | 8.0% |
| 5 | Brazil | 800 | 4.0% |
| 6 | India | 790 | 4.0% |
| 7 | China | 700 | 3.5% |
| 8 | Côte d’Ivoire | 350 | 1.8% |
| Other countries | 1,300 | 6.5% | |
| World | 20,000 | 100% |
U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries, 2026 manganese summary and data release
Mineral demand from clean energy, outlook
Thousand metric tons per year used in clean-energy technologies, the share going into EV and grid-storage batteries in 2025, and demand in the IEA's Stated Policies Scenario (today's policy settings), a scenario rather than a forecast.
| Mineral | 2025 | Batteries' share | 2035 | 2040 vs. 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lithium | 203 | 100% | 632 | 4.1× |
| Nickel | 625 | 75% | 2,037 | 3.8× |
| Cobalt | 90 | 100% | 141 | 1.5× |
| Battery-grade graphite | 1,462 | 100% | 4,318 | 2.9× |
| Manganese | 197 | 34% | 1,109 | 9.3× |
IEA, Critical Minerals Data Explorer (CC BY 4.0)
Sources & method
Public data, cited.
Show sources and methodology
Producer prices, industrial production, shipments, inventories and employment come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Census Bureau, and metal prices from the International Monetary Fund, all through the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis's FRED database; they refresh on this page at least twice a day. Grid-scale storage comes from the U.S. Energy Information Administration's monthly generator inventory (Form EIA-860M), which covers units of at least 1 megawatt. Pack prices are BloombergNEF's annual battery price survey as published in its press releases. Mineral production, reserves, import reliance and annual prices come from the U.S. Geological Survey's Mineral Commodity Summaries.
- Changes compare the latest reading with the same period a year earlier. For producer price indexes the headline is the year-over-year rate of change, and its comparison is the change in that rate, in percentage points.
- Battery manufacturing (NAICS 33591) covers all battery types made in the U.S., including lead-acid, not lithium-ion alone. Census's annual survey of storage-battery plants (NAICS 335911) was not published for 2023, and its 2022 jump in employment partly reflects new plants classified into the industry.
- Storage history counts battery units by the month they entered service and removes retired units in the month they retired, using EIA's latest inventory, so earlier months may differ slightly from the inventory EIA published at the time. Power capacity is nameplate megawatts; energy capacity is nameplate megawatt-hours. Planned capacity is what developers report to EIA; planned projects frequently slip or are canceled.
- Global EV battery deployment, EV sales shares, and mineral demand and supply by country come from the International Energy Agency's Global EV Outlook data and Critical Minerals Data Explorer, licensed CC BY 4.0. The IEA rounds to two significant figures, so regions may not sum exactly to the world total. Outlook figures are IEA scenarios (Stated Policies, or the base case for supply), not forecasts.
- EV battery recalls are U.S. vehicle recalls whose NHTSA subject or defect summary refers to the high-voltage (propulsion) battery: its cells, modules, pack, contactors or control module. NHTSA's open data does not carry the detailed component code, so the match is by keyword and may miss or include a few borderline recalls. Vehicle counts are the manufacturer's estimate of vehicles potentially affected.
- Cell plants and supply-chain facilities come from the Lithium-Ion Battery Supply Chain Database compiled by NAATBatt International and the National Laboratory of the Rockies (formerly NREL) for the U.S. Department of Energy; we credit DOE, NLR, the Alliance for Energy Innovation and NAATBatt, who do not endorse this page. Capacity is each facility's announced annual capacity, not output. Our own status checks, each linked to its sources, are shown beside the database's status and can be more recent.
- Company financials are as reported, company-wide unless marked as a segment, converted to U.S. dollars at each quarter's average exchange rate, so dollar growth includes currency moves. Chinese companies report under Chinese accounting standards (operating profit includes investment income and impairments), Korean companies under K-IFRS, Panasonic under IFRS with adjusted operating profit, and U.S. companies under U.S. GAAP. From 2026, LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI and SK On include the U.S. advanced manufacturing production credit (Section 45X) in revenue, so their 2026 revenue is not like-for-like with earlier years. SQM figures follow its Chilean-basis earnings releases. BYD is shown company-wide, which is mostly vehicles.
- Figures are as reported and subject to revision by the source. This page is for general information and is not investment advice.
Company financials sources
- Albemarle: all
- BYD: 2026Q1, 2026Q2, 2026Q3
- CATL: 2026Q1, 2026Q2, 2026Q3
- EnerSys: all
- Eos Energy: all
- EVE Energy: 2026Q1, 2026Q2, 2026Q3
- Fluence Energy: all
- Gotion High-Tech: 2026Q1, 2026Q2, 2026Q3
- LG Energy Solution: 2026Q1, 2026Q2, 2026Q3
- Livent / Arcadium: all, all
- Panasonic Energy: 2026Q1, 2026Q2, 2026Q3
- QuantumScape: all
- Samsung SDI: 2026Q2, 2026Q3, 2026Q1
- SK On: 2026Q1, 2026Q2, 2026Q3
- SQM: 2026Q1, 2026Q2, all
- Tesla Energy: all
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