operator, CBMM, working a single deposit at Araxá in Minas Gerais. No
other critical-minerals market in the world is concentrated quite like
this, and understanding why matters for anyone reading Brazilian
mining.¹
mine production at approximately 104,000 tonnes of contained niobium in
both 2024 and 2025. Canada, the second-largest producer, contributes
roughly 6,000 tonnes in 2025, or about 5 percent of global output. No
other country produces niobium at commercial scale.¹
The concentration is extreme by any normal commodity-market standard.
where the Democratic Republic of Congo produces about 73 percent of
global output; China's share in rare-earth mining sits at roughly 69
percent. Brazil's 93 percent share of niobium is in a different league.
estimates give Brazil 14 million tonnes of contained niobium, China 6.5
million tonnes, Canada 640,000 tonnes and Russia 3,000 tonnes.¹ Brazil's
reserve share is large but not as dominant as its production share,
which reflects how much of the rest of the world's niobium endowment has
simply not been developed.
dominant global niobium supplier since the 1960s. The company operates a
fully integrated mine-to-metal operation at Araxá, capturing value from
ore extraction all the way through to ferroniobium and niobium metal
products.
already exceeds current global market demand.² The company has
deliberately positioned itself with spare capacity so that it can meet
any plausible near-term demand surge without losing customers to
alternative sources. That strategy is an explicit lesson from decades of
experience managing a dominant position: the best way to prevent new
entrants from gaining commercial footholds is to ensure that customers
never run short.
asset. Since the 2010s the company has combined Brazilian control with
strategic equity stakes held by Japanese and Chinese consortia. The
steelmakers; the Chinese position similarly ties CBMM into Chinese steel
and aerospace demand. The structure has delivered remarkable
customer-base stability across geopolitical cycles.
industrial use is ubiquitous. The USGS reports that roughly 77 percent
of U.S. niobium consumption goes into steels, primarily as ferroniobium
added to high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steels used in pipelines,
structural construction and automotive chassis. The remaining 23 percent
is consumed in superalloys, typically in aerospace jet engines, gas
turbines and high-temperature industrial applications.¹
amounts of niobium to steel dramatically improves strength-to-weight
performance and weldability, which translates into thinner pipe walls,
lighter structural members and more efficient automotive designs. For
every kilogramme of niobium added to an HSLA steel, downstream material
weight can be reduced by tens or hundreds of kilogrammes, depending on
application. That multiplier effect is what makes niobium economically
indispensable despite its modest global production volume.
kilogram, and the estimated value of U.S. niobium imports was US$525
million.¹ Those figures translate into meaningful export revenue for
Brazil across the full product mix.
totalled 92,000 tonnes in 2024. Through the first eight months of 2025
would likely match or exceed 2024.¹
received 49 percent of Brazilian ferroniobium shipments in 2024,
followed by the Netherlands (which functions as a European distribution
hub) at 17 percent, Singapore at 9 percent, and the Republic of Korea
and the United States at 8 percent each.¹ No single customer is
dominant, but Chinese demand is clearly the largest single flow —
reflecting both Chinese steel output scale and the strategic-equity
relationship between CBMM and Chinese stakeholders.
extends across the value chain. U.S. niobium imports over 2021-2024 came
specifically, and 65 percent from Brazil for ferroniobium and niobium
metal. Canada contributed roughly 31 percent of ferroniobium and niobium
metal.¹ That the United States is 100 percent import-reliant on a
commodity where its largest supplier is Brazil and its second-largest is
Canada is a defining feature of North American niobium economics.
production: a Nebraska project that also targets scandium and titanium.
million to support the development of a vertically integrated domestic
scandium-alloy supply chain, with spillover benefits to niobium and
titanium production.¹ If the project eventually reaches commercial
operation, it will be the first primary niobium producer in the United
States.
its expected near-term scale. Even at full production, the facility
would contribute a fraction of global niobium output, and it would not
meaningfully dent CBMM's market position. But it would begin to rebuild
the U.S. domestic capability in an element where Brazilian concentration
is currently absolute, and it would give the Pentagon an alternative
source for defence-critical niobium and scandium alloys.
cyclical condition. CBMM's integrated operation, its strategic customer
relationships, and the depth of its reserves together make replacement
enormously difficult. The Nebraska project may alter the margin; new
the 93 percent figure is unlikely to move materially in the next decade.
commercially valuable anchor