Aerospace & Defence Materials

7 materials shown. Figures are from USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · as each source defines it for each commodity · source ↗

Scroll the table sideways for the remaining columns.

Material	Shelf	World production 2025	World reserves	Leading producer	U.S. imported
☆Titanium criticalA metal as strong as steel at about half the weight, which does not corrode in seawater or in…	Aerospace & Defence Materials	370,000metric tons · Titanium sponge metal production	—	China70% of world production†	—
☆Tungsten criticalThe metal with the highest melting point of them all — you can heat it to 3,400 C before it…	Aerospace & Defence Materials	85,000metric tons · Mine production	4,700,000	China79% of world production	50%
☆Niobium criticalA metal that makes steel much stronger when added in tiny amounts — a few hundred grams per…	Aerospace & Defence Materials	112,000metric tons · Mine production	21,000,000	Brazil93% of world production†	100%
☆Tantalum criticalA dense metal whose oxide layer stores charge extremely reliably, which is why it is in the…	Aerospace & Defence Materials	2,500metric tons · Mine production	—	Congo (Kinshasa)52% of world production	100%
☆Rhenium criticalOne of the rarest metals in the crust, recovered from molybdenum roasting, and the ingredient…	Aerospace & Defence Materials	81,000kilograms · Mine production	—	Chile37% of world production	75%
☆Antimony criticalA brittle, silvery metalloid used mostly to stop things burning, and in the primers and tracer…	Aerospace & Defence Materials	110,000metric tons · Mine production	2,000,000	China36% of world production	—
☆Caesium criticalThe softest metal, liquid on a warm day, and the element that defines the second.	Aerospace & Defence Materials	not published	—	—	100%

† Worked out from the USGS production table: the leading country’s output divided by the world total. Where the USGS publishes the share itself, that figure is shown instead.