Niobium is a highly concentrated alloying metal market built around ferroniobium. USGS MCS 2025 reports 110,000 metric tons of world mine production in 2024e, with Brazil supplying about 100,000 metric tons and Canada 7,100 metric tons; all other producers are marginal by comparison. The U.S. has had no significant mine production since 1959 and remained 100% net import reliant in 2024, importing niobium chiefly as ferroniobium, niobium metal, and niobium oxide. Domestic demand is dominated by steels (about 77%) and superalloys (about 21%).

The supply chain is strategically important because niobium improves strength and heat resistance in steels and aerospace superalloys, but substitutes usually impose either a performance penalty or higher cost. The 2024 chapter highlights two U.S. attempts to narrow critical bottlenecks: continued financing and permitting progress at the Nebraska mine-and-ferroniobium project, and a September 2024 Department of Defense award to establish high-purity niobium oxide processing in Pennsylvania. Even with those efforts, commercial reality in 2025 remains a Brazil-centered global market with very limited supply diversification.