The Periodic Table of Scarcity and Abundance Cd Cadmium
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Cadmium: How we get it

How much do we make each year, and how?

Zinc refineries made about 23,000 tonnes of cadmium metal in 2025, two fifths of it in China. Output has stayed between about 16,000 and 27,000 tonnes a year since 1980. Only a small share of used cadmium is recycled.

Last updated 3 October 2026.

How much is produced

Production

~ 23thousand tonnes a year1

2025. World refinery production of cadmium metal (rounded, estimated). No mine production of cadmium is reported; it is recovered at zinc refineries.

Production over time
0 10k 20k 1900 1925 1950 1975 2000
t. World refinery production of cadmium, metric tons of cadmium content. USGS notes that figures before 1932 cover selected countries only2
Show the numbers
Yeart
190014
190113
190213
190317
190425
190525
190621
190739
190837
190939
191043
191155
191267
191362
191480
191578
1916119
1917172
1918165
191989
192081
192154
1922128
1923248
1924245
1925416
1926960
1927661
19281,500
19292,180
19302,480
19311,230
19321,040
19331,950
19342,480
19353,150
19363,390
19373,970
19384,010
19394,580
19405,220
19415,220
19425,030
19435,380
19445,320
19454,760
19464,050
19474,930
19484,870
19495,220
19506,010
19516,070
19526,170
19537,060
19547,300
19558,390
19569,070
19579,390
19589,800
195910,200
196011,100
196111,700
196211,700
196311,800
196412,700
196511,900
196613,000
196713,200
196815,000
196917,600
197016,500
197115,400
197216,700
197317,200
197417,300
197515,200
197617,000
197718,300
197817,300
197918,700
198018,200
198117,400
198216,400
198317,600
198419,600
198519,100
198619,100
198719,000
198821,900
198921,400
199020,200
199120,900
199219,600
199318,700
199418,200
199520,100
199618,900
199720,300
199820,200
199920,000
200020,300
200120,000
200217,800
200318,400
200418,600
200520,100
200619,900
200718,700
200821,600
200920,800
201023,700
201121,100
201222,500
201322,500
201425,600
201525,100
201625,600
201725,500
201826,800
201925,200
202024,000
202124,700

Refineries produced an estimated 23,000 tonnes of cadmium metal in 2025, and 22,800 tonnes in 20241. USGS reports refinery output only. It does not collect data on cadmium mine production, because cadmium is recovered from zinc concentrates3.

World production grew from about 14 tonnes in 1900 to about 2,480 tonnes in 1930 and 11,100 tonnes in 1960. The figures before 1932 cover only some countries2. Production reached 17,600 tonnes in 1969. From 1975 to 2009 it stayed between about 15,000 and 22,000 tonnes a year, while the main use changed from plating to batteries. The highest year in the USGS series is 2018, with 26,800 tonnes, and 2021 had 24,700 tonnes2.

Part of the metal is secondary, made from scrap. The International Cadmium Association estimated that recycled metal was about 10% of world refined output in 20004 and about 19% in 20073. USGS put it at about 20% in 20145. The Association now gives about 23%, without a year6.

Who produces it

Refining by country
China (est.) 41% 9,500 t
South Korea (est.) 19% 4,300 t
Canada (est.) 5.7% 1,300 t
Japan (est.) 5.7% 1,300 t
Kazakhstan (est.) 4.8% 1,100 t
Mexico (est.) 4.3% 1,000 t
Russia (est.) 4.3% 1,000 t
Australia (est.) 2.6% 600 t
Rest of the world 13% 2,900 t
2025. Refinery production of cadmium metal, estimates for most countries. World: 23,000 t. USGS rounds the world total to 23,000 t. Its country figures add up to 23,160 t1

China refined an estimated 9,500 tonnes in 2025, about 41% of the world total. South Korea followed with 4,300 tonnes, then Canada and Japan with 1,300 tonnes each, and Kazakhstan with 1,100 tonnes. Mexico and Russia made about 1,000 tonnes each. Sixteen countries are listed, and most of the figures are USGS estimates1.

The United States made about 200 tonnes in 2025. One company recovered it at a zinc smelter in Tennessee, from domestic and imported zinc concentrates1. In 2019 that plant was Nyrstar’s refinery in Clarksville7.

The producers of refined cadmium are zinc companies. In 2007 USGS named Korea Zinc’s Onsan refinery3, Nyrstar’s Hobart smelter in Australia3, and the Huludao, Shaoguan and Zhuzhou smelters in China3. We found no published company shares of world output.

How it is mined and refined

Zinc ore is mined, crushed and concentrated. At the refinery the zinc sulfide concentrate is roasted to turn it into oxide. Cadmium oxide boils off with lead and other impurities and is caught as flue dust, which holds about 10% cadmium4.

At electrolytic zinc plants, the dust and the roasted concentrate are dissolved in sulfuric acid. A sludge of zinc and cadmium drops out, with 5% to 50% cadmium4. More leaching turns it into a cadmium sulfate solution. Electricity plates the cadmium out onto aluminum sheets. The metal is stripped off, melted at 380 to 400 °C under sodium hydroxide, and cast4.

Pyrometallurgical zinc plants, which sinter the roasted ore with coke, catch cadmium in flue dust4. The metal is sold as slabs and sticks for alloys, balls for plating, and flakes or powder for chemicals and pigments7. In 2002 USGS reported cadmium shot as pure as 99.99999%4.

What it costs to produce

There is no published cost of producing cadmium. Its mining and exploration costs are part of the cost of zinc, and its refinery costs are not readily available4.

In a 2014 life-cycle study, Nuss and Eckelman give 27.5 megajoules per kilogram for primary cadmium. With semiconductor-grade cadmium included, the figure is 53 megajoules per kilogram8. They split the burden of a zinc refinery by the value of each metal. On their figures, cadmium gets about 0.03% of the burden of zinc smelting8.

New supply comes from new zinc capacity or from cadmium circuits added to existing plants. In 2019 a Chinese company began a project to recover 413 tonnes a year of cadmium from zinc slag7. India’s Hindustan Zinc was building a unit to make cadmium metal from smelter residue7. We found no published figure for the typical time or capital cost of such a unit.

Recycling

End-of-life recycling

15%9

Old-scrap recycling efficiency for the United States in 2000 (Plachy), used by UNEP as the consensus figure. Not a world figure.

The British Geological Survey (2024) estimates 18%. It weights by an industry chart in which jewellery is 57% of use. That chart differs from the USGS figures (see the uses chapter).

Recycled content

~ 20%5

2014. Secondary production as a share of world cadmium production, about 20% in 2014 (USGS).

Range 20% to 25%. UNEP (2011) gives 25% (Morrow 2009); the International Cadmium Association says about 23%, without a year. UNEP's other figures, 32% (United States) and 50 to 75% (expert opinion), are not world figures.

Most used cadmium is not recycled. For the United States in 2000, USGS estimated that 285 tonnes was recovered from scrap and 2,030 tonnes was lost, a recycling efficiency of 15%. About 13% of US use came from recycled metal10. The UNEP International Resource Panel uses the 15% figure as the end-of-life recycling rate9.

In a 2024 assessment, the British Geological Survey estimated 18%11. The survey weights each use by an industry chart in which jewellery is 57% of world use. That chart differs from the USGS figures (see uses)11. With more weight on batteries, the rate would be higher.

Batteries are the exception. Around 2000, about 85% of large industrial nickel-cadmium batteries were recycled4. The plates are heated with carbon, and the cadmium boils off and is cast as discs4. The EU battery directive of 2006 set a recycling target of 75% for cadmium batteries3.

Cadmium in pigments, coatings and plastic stabilizers is spread thin and cannot be recovered at a profit4. It can be recycled from cadmium telluride solar panels1.

Sources

  1. 1

    U.S. Geological Survey, 2026. Cadmium, in Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 , pp. 52-53.

    World refinery production, price, US trade, substitutes and events for 2025.

    • World total (rounded) ... 22,800 23,000
    • World total (rounded) … 22,800 23,000
    • Canadae Chinae Germanye Japane ... 1,300 1,300 8,900 9,500 130 220 1,580 1,300 ... 4,300 4,300
    • Chinae … 8,900 … 9,500 … Korea, Republic ofe … 4,300 … 4,300
    • one company produced an estimated 200 tons of cadmium metal as a byproduct from its zinc smelter in Tennessee, which processed both domestic and imported zinc concentrates
    • cadmium-containing dust from electric-arc furnaces, and CdTe solar panels
  2. 2

    U.S. Geological Survey (D.A. Buckingham, J. Plachy, P.H. Kuck, A.C. Tolcin, R.M. Callaghan), 2023. Cadmium statistics, in Historical Statistics for Mineral and Material Commodities in the United States (Data Series 140) , Columns: World production; Unit value (98 $/t).

    World production and US unit value of cadmium, 1900 to 2021.

    • Year ... World production ... 1900 ... 14 ... 2021 ... 24700
    • Year … World production … 1900 … 14 … 1930 … 2480 … 1960 … 11100
    • 1969 … 17600 … 2018 … 26800 … 2021 … 24700
  3. 3

    A.C. Tolcin, U.S. Geological Survey, 2010. Cadmium, in 2007 Minerals Yearbook , pp. 15.1-15.3.

    The 2007 price rise, producers by country, Belgium's compound makers and the EU battery directive.

    • Data on domestic mine production of cadmium were not collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Primary cadmium is generally recovered from zinc concentrates
    • global secondary cadmium production accounted for approximately 19% of all cadmium metal production
    • Korea Zinc was one of the leading suppliers of cadmium metal to China. Production capacity of refined cadmium at the company’s leading smelter, the Onsan zinc-lead refinery
    • Nyrstar’s Hobart zinc smelter, in the State of Tasmania, produced cadmium metal
    • Leading producers of refined cadmium in China were Huludao Zinc Smelter (Liaoning Province), Shaoguan Smelter (Guangdong Province), and Zhuzhou Lead-Zinc Smelter (Hunan Province)
    • A recycling rate of 75% for cadmiumcontaining batteries
  4. 4

    W.C. Butterman and J. Plachy, U.S. Geological Survey, 2002. Mineral Commodity Profiles: Cadmium (Open-File Report 02-238) , pp. 3-24.

    History, minerals, refining process, uses by period, environment and price history to 2000.

    • the International Cadmium Association estimates that in 2000 nearly 2,000 t, or about 10 percent of the world’s refined cadmium production, was secondary metal
    • cadmium oxide, along with lead and some other impurities, is volatilized and captured as flue dust … which contains on the order of 10 percent cadmium
    • the flue dust is mixed with the roasted zinc concentrate and dissolved in sulfuric acid. A zinccadmium sludge containing anywhere from 5 to 50 percent cadmium
    • electrolyzed between silver-lead anodes and aluminum cathodes. Cadmium metal is stripped from the cathodes periodically and melted at 380 to 400
    • at pyrometallurgical zinc plants or at smelters, the calcine from the roaster may be sintered with coke, a process that results in a considerable volume of cadmium-containing flue dust
    • Cadmium is also produced as 1-3 millimeter (mm) shot, in purities as high as 99.99999 percent
    • its exploration and mining costs are embedded in those of the two base metals, especially zinc. Its refinery extraction costs, likewise, are not readily available
    • The large industrial batteries, which use about 20 percent of battery cadmium, are recycled at a high rate-about 85 percent
    • reduced with carbon to metallic cadmium. The cadmium distills off, is precipitated, and then is cast into 4- to 6-mm-diameter flattened discs
    • is present in low concentrations in these products and cannot be reclaimed economically
  5. 5

    U.S. Geological Survey, 2015. Cadmium, in Mineral Commodity Summaries 2015 , World Refinery Production and Reserves table.

    First edition that says quantitative reserve estimates are not available.

    • Secondary production accounted for about 20% of global production
  6. 6

    International Cadmium Association (industry association), 2026. The Future .

    Recycled cadmium is about 23% of supply; NiCd batteries are called the largest use.

    • secondary or recycled cadmium now accounts for about 23% of total cadmium supply
  7. 7

    R.M. Callaghan, U.S. Geological Survey, 2024. Cadmium, in 2019 Minerals Yearbook (advance release) , pp. 15.1-15.4.

    Uses, trade, consumers, China's pollution campaign and the outlook.

    • Nyrstar N.V.’s (Belgium) electrolytic zinc refinery in Clarksville, TN, produced zinc metal and several byproducts, including cadmium metal
    • slabs or sticks commonly were consumed for alloys; balls and spheres for plating; and flakes, powder, or sticks for chemicals and pigments
    • produce 413 metric tons per year (t/yr) of cadmium ingots from zinc slag
    • an ancillary unit was under construction at Hindustan Zinc’s Chanderiya lead zinc smelter that would treat all smelting process residue, including cadmium sponge from which cadmium metal would be produced
  8. 8

    P. Nuss and M.J. Eckelman (PLOS ONE), 2014. Life Cycle Assessment of Metals: A Scientific Synthesis , Supporting Information S1, table S38 (Cd rows) and table S8.

    Cradle-to-gate energy and greenhouse gas figures for cadmium.

    • Cadmium, primary, at plant/GLO U reallocated … 27.5 … Cd TOTAL … 53.0
    • Economic allocation [%] … Cd … 0.00338 … 0.03%
  9. 9

    T.E. Graedel and others, UNEP International Resource Panel, 2011. Recycling Rates of Metals: A Status Report , Appendix F, table F1, p. 36.

    End-of-life recycling rate and recycled content for cadmium.

    • Cd 76d 25j, 32d, 50 -75 15d
    • Cd … 76d … 25j, 32d, 50 –75 … 15d
  10. 10

    J. Plachy, U.S. Geological Survey (copy hosted by the International Cadmium Association), 2002. Cadmium Recycling in the United States in 2000 , Abstract; table 1.

    US recycling efficiency of 15% and recycled share of 13% in 2000.

    • unrecovered in 2000 was estimated at 2,030 t, whereas an estimated 285 t was recovered. Recycling efficiency was estimated at 15%
    • about 13% of cadmium consumption in the United States was sourced from recycled cadmium
  11. 11

    G. Mudd and others, British Geological Survey, 2024. UK 2024 Criticality Assessment (Open Report OR/24/047) , Results tables; appendix tables on end uses and by-product status.

    Cadmium rated non-critical; by-product status; end-use table citing the International Cadmium Association.

    • Total 134 18.15
    • Jewellery (this application is not authorised in the EU) 57 0 NiCd batteries 23 75