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How we get hafnium

How much do we make each year, and how?

No government publishes hafnium output. The European Commission estimated about 70 tonnes a year for 2012 to 2016. Other estimates range from 64 tonnes (2012) to 120 to 140 tonnes (2026). France and the United States made more than 90% in 2012 to 2016. Recycling rates differ.

Last updated 14 October 2026.

How much is produced

Production

~ 70tonnes a year1

2016. Hafnium metal separated from zirconium, as estimated for the European Commission. No government publishes world production; USGS says that the data are not available.

Average of 2012 to 2016. Industry estimates differ: 64 t a year (Lipmann Walton, 2012), 70 to 75 t a year (Argus, 2022 and 2025), 80 to 90 t a year (traders, Reuters, 2023), and 120 to 140 t a year (OnG Commodities, 2026, with low confidence in the output of China). The European Commission value is the oldest of these.

No government publishes world hafnium production. USGS says that the data are not available2. The European Commission says the data are confidential3.

The published estimates differ:

  • 64 tonnes a year, from the trader Lipmann Walton in 20124.
  • 70 tonnes a year on average from 2012 to 2016, from the European Commission1.
  • 70 to 75 tonnes a year, from industry estimates given by Argus in 2022 and again in 202556.
  • 80 to 90 tonnes a year, from traders quoted by Reuters in 20237.
  • 120 to 140 tonnes a year, from the consultancy OnG Commodities in 2026. OnG calculated this from the output of nuclear-grade zirconium, and it has low confidence in the output of China8.

The estimates are not on one basis. The production data are confidential, and the output of China is not well known.

Who produces it

Hafnium (processing) by country
France (est.) 49%
United States (est.) 44%
Russia (est.) 2.8%
China (est.) 2.8%
Ukraine (est.) 1.4%
2016. Average of 2012 to 2016. Shares of world processing of hafnium, from the European Commission study of 2023. The Commission says that world production data are confidential, so it used commercial data from its earlier assessment. The European Commission factsheet of 2020 gives France 35 t a year (49%) and the United States 31 t (44%). India and China made small amounts for their own use. The shares are from 2012 to 2016 and are probably out of date for China: Argus reported that the United States imported 7,805 kg of unwrought hafnium, scrap and powder from China in 2024, 30% of China's exports. That is about 26 t of exports (7.8 t ÷ 0.30), far more than 2.8% of 70 t3

France and the United States made most of the world’s hafnium in 2012 to 2016. The European Commission gave France 35 tonnes a year (49%) and the United States 31 tonnes (44%). China, Russia and Ukraine made the rest1. India and China made small amounts for their own use1.

These shares are from 2012 to 2016. China now exports hafnium. Argus reported that the United States imported 7,805 kg of hafnium from China in 2024, 30% of China’s exports6. By our sum, China exported about 26 tonnes (7.8 tonnes ÷ 0.30). In the United States, one producer in Oregon and one in Utah make zirconium and hafnium metal2. In 2021, USGS named them as Allegheny Technologies near Albany, Oregon, and Western Zirconium, part of Westinghouse, in Ogden, Utah9. Lipmann wrote in 2012 that Westinghouse did not make hafnium by-products of added value from its zirconium sponge production4. In 2026, OnG Commodities named three Western processors: ATI, Framatome and Westinghouse8.

How it is mined and refined

Zircon is mined from sands for other minerals (see zirconium). Zirconium metal made by the Kroll process contains up to 2% hafnium. This metal is used for non-nuclear purposes. Nuclear reactors need the two metals apart, because they absorb neutrons very differently10.

The refiner dissolves zirconium oxychloride and separates the hafnium chemically. Each metal is then made into a chloride and reduced to metal by the Kroll process10.

Superalloy makers want the purest form, crystal bar. It is made by the Van Arkel process. Lipmann estimated in 2012 that not more than 30 tonnes of the 64 tonnes was made this way. He named two makers: Wah Chang, about 20 tonnes, and Cezus, about 10 tonnes4.

What it costs to produce

We found no source that gives a production cost for hafnium. The separation step is needed to make nuclear-grade zirconium10, so hafnium and zirconium come from the same process. For their footprint figures, Nuss and Eckelman split the burden between the metals by the prices of 2006 to 201011.

Recycling

End-of-life recycling

28%12

Other sources: below 1% (UNEP, 2011)13; below 1%, zirconium and hafnium metal (USGS, 2017)10.

Global end-of-life recycling rate from the UK criticality assessment of 2024 (BGS), weighted by end use. The UK takes 62% for superalloys (45% of use) and 0% for every other use (after Stanford Advanced Materials, 2024, and Curwick and others, 1980).

The European Commission (2023) gives an end-of-life recycling input rate of 0% for hafnium. USGS (2026) says that hafnium metal recycling was minimal.

Very little hafnium is recycled. USGS says that hafnium metal recycling was minimal2. The European Commission says there is no relevant end-of-life recycling1.

Published rates differ. The UK gives 28%, because it takes 62% for superalloys and 0% for every other use12. UNEP (2011) gives less than 1%13. USGS gives less than 1% for zirconium and hafnium metal together10.

Sources

  1. 1

    European Commission (G.A. Blengini and others), 2020. Study on the EU's list of Critical Raw Materials (2020): Factsheets on Critical Raw Materials , Chapter 12, Hafnium (pp. 253-266).

    World production 2012-2016, producers, uses, recycling, prices, trade measures, the name.

    • Global production of hafnium between 2012 and 2016 amounted on average to . 70 tonnes per year
    • France is the world major producer of hafnium, with 35 tonnes per year (49% of global production). The United States follows with 31 tonnes (44%). The remainder is distributed across China, Russia and Ukraine.
    • India and China have some low-volume hafnium production for domestic use but do not export it
    • There is no relevant end-of-life (EOL) recycling of hafnium.
  2. 2

    U.S. Geological Survey (Shelby N. Johnston), 2026. Zirconium and Hafnium, in Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 , Pp. 1-2: production and use, salient statistics (hafnium rows), events, world production and reserves, resources, substitutes, footnote 6.

    Hafnium prices from 2021 to 2025, US trade in hafnium, import sources, recycling, substitutes, and the statement that world data are not available.

    • World primary hafnium production data and quantitative estimates of hafnium reserves were not available.
    • Zirconium metal and hafnium metal were produced from zirconium chemical intermediates by one producer in Oregon and one in Utah.
    • Hafnium metal recycling was minimal.
  3. 3

    European Commission (M. Grohol and C. Veeh), 2023. Study on the Critical Raw Materials for the EU 2023: Final Report , Tables of end uses and of global supply shares at the processing stage (hafnium rows); text on EU processing.

    Shares of world processing and of uses of hafnium.

    • Global production data is confidential, previous assessment commercial data were used.
    • hafnium P France 49% ... 1.0% 49.3% 43.7% 2.8% 2.8% 1.4% 55.8%
  4. 4

    Anthony Lipmann, Lipmann Walton & Co (metal trader), 2012. Hafnium Supply-Demand – MMTA – Brief Metal Statistics .

    A trader's account of hafnium supply, crystal bar production, uses and trade, written in 2012 and updated in 2020.

    • out of the total supply of 64mt only 30mt of production is made by the Van Arkel process
    • Westinghouse, USA, does not produce added value Hafnium by-products during Zirconium sponge production
    • Out of total 64mt supply, not more than 30mt is produced via the Van Arkel process which satisfies the bulk of demand for very pure crystal bars of Hf preferred for super alloys
    • Wah Chang is thought to produce about 20mt and Cezus about 10 mt via Van Arkel
  5. 5

    Argus Media, 2022. Hafnium prices surge as supply concerns build .

    Hafnium prices in 2022, the industry estimate of world supply, producing countries, US duty on Chinese material.

    • global supply of pure hafnium metal only totalling around 70-75 t/yr according to industry estimates
  6. 6

    Argus Media (Cristina Belda), 2025. Hafnium approaches two-year high on fresh demand .

    Hafnium prices in October 2025, demand from chips and gas turbines, Chinese export licences, US imports from China in 2024.

    • global supply of pure hafnium metal is just 70-75 t/yr, concentrated in four countries
    • importing 7,805kg of unwrought metal, scrap and powder last year … 30pc of China’s exports
  7. 7

    Reuters (Seher Dareen), republished by Kitco, 2023. Aerospace, electronic demand drive hafnium's 400% record surge .

    The price rise of 2022, traders' estimates of supply, Russian export licences, chip demand.

    • Traders’ estimates of global hafnium supplies range between 80 and 90 tonnes annually.
  8. 8

    Andrew Matheson and Patrick Stratton, OnG Commodities LLC, in The Crucible (Minor Metals Trade Association), 2026. Hafnium – Where will it end? .

    A consultancy's view of the hafnium market in 2026: prices, supply estimate, Western processors, uses, and its forecast. Published 7 August 2026.

    • suppliers of nuclear grade zirconium must separate 120-140 tons of hafnium. This, OnG estimates, is roughly where hafnium availability sits today, although we have relatively low confidence in our assessment of how much hafnium China is actually producing
    • the three Western World processors are ATI, Framatome and Westinghouse
  9. 9

    U.S. Geological Survey (Joseph Gambogi), 2025. Zirconium and Hafnium, in Minerals Yearbook 2021 , Text pp. 86.1-86.3: uses, production, prices, foreign trade.

    Uses of hafnium, the US producers, the zirconium to hafnium ratio, the 2021 import unit value.

    • U.S. producers of zirconium and hafnium metal were Allegheny Technologies, Inc. near Albany, OR, and Western Zirconium Inc. (a subsidiary of Westinghouse Electric Co.) in Ogden, UT.
  10. 10

    U.S. Geological Survey (James V. Jones III, Nadine M. Piatak and George M. Bedinger), 2017. Zirconium and Hafnium, chapter V of Critical Mineral Resources of the United States (Professional Paper 1802) , Pp. V1-V26: summary, uses, supply and demand, geochemistry, deposit types, environmental considerations, health.

    Crustal abundance, the zirconium to hafnium ratio, separation, uses, recycling, toxicity and the environment.

    • The resulting metal contains a mixture of zirconium and up to 2 percent hafnium and is used for nonnuclear applications
    • For nuclear-grade applications, the metals must be separated because of their different neutron absorption characteristics.
    • Reactor-grade zirconium and hafnium are produced by dissolving zirconium oxychloride and chemically separating the hafnium from the solution. The zirconium and hafnium components are separately processed to form chlorides, which are then reduced to metals by the Kroll process.
    • Less than 1 percent of discarded zirconium and hafnium metal or alloy is recycled or reused worldwide
  11. 11

    P. Nuss and M.J. Eckelman (PLOS ONE), 2014. Life Cycle Assessment of Metals: A Scientific Synthesis , Supporting Information S1, table S38 (Hf rows).

    Cradle-to-gate greenhouse gas emissions and energy use for 63 metals (supporting information S1).

    • Environmental burdens are allocated using average prices over the five-year period 2006-2010
  12. 12

    UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre, British Geological Survey, 2024. UK 2024 Criticality Assessment , Table 1 (criticality results); appendix tables of end uses (Hafnium, SCRREEN 2023), end-of-life recycling rates (Hafnium) and the recycling indicator.

    The UK critical minerals list of 2024, with end uses and end-of-life recycling rates.

    • Hafnium (Hf) 28 Uranium (U) 7
    • Hafnium (Hf) Superalloys 45 62 Nuclear control rods 13 0 Plasma cutting tips 13 0 Optical coatings 11 0 Catalysts 7 0
  13. 13

    UNEP International Resource Panel (T.E. Graedel et al.), 2011. Recycling Rates of Metals: A Status Report , Table F1, specialty metals (Hf row) and Appendix F text.

    End-of-life recycling rates, recycled content and old scrap ratios for 60 metals.

    • Lu <1 <1 Hf Table F1. 37 <1 Ta