Semiconductor Materials

5 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	Leading producer	U.S. imported
☆Silicon criticalThe second-most-common element in the Earth's crust — ordinary sand — purified until only one…	Semiconductor Materials	5,000thousand metric tons · Ferrosilicon	China87% of world production	—
☆Gallium criticalA silvery metal that melts in your hand, and the basis of the compound semiconductors in fast…	Semiconductor Materials	900,000kilograms · Primary production	China100% of world production	100%
☆Germanium criticalThe element the very first transistors were made from, now used mainly for infrared lenses and…	Semiconductor Materials	not published	Chinashare not published	50%
☆High-Purity QuartzQuartz sand so free of other elements that it can be melted into the crucible a silicon crystal…	Semiconductor Materials	not published	—	—
☆NeonA noble gas so unreactive it forms no compounds at all, separated out of ordinary air in tiny…	Semiconductor Materials	800.0million liters · Rare gases production, (million liters)	United States14% of world production†	52%

† 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.