Gallium Metal Chain™
· ₹22,556.37/kg today
From mine to market: how Gallium moves through the global economy.
Data year: 2025 · Chain data last reviewed: 9 September 2026 · not a live feed — see methodology.
How Gallium Moves Through the Economy
Each stage below is a real, cited figure — click any stage for its full description and source.
Recovery (Bauxite/Zinc-Ore Byproduct) Mining / Extraction
Gallium has no dedicated ore of its own — it is recovered as a low-concentration byproduct during alumina refining (from bauxite) or zinc ore processing.
High confidenceSource: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries (via MetalsCost Metal Reserves) (2025)
Refining to High-Purity Gallium Processing / Refining
Low-purity gallium is further refined to the 99.99%+ purity needed for semiconductor and optoelectronic applications.
China accounts for an estimated 98-99% of world primary/low-purity gallium production — among the most concentrated supply chains of any metal this site tracks, and a frequent subject of export-control policy. Concentration: High
High confidenceSource: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025 (Gallium) — view (2024)
Semiconductors & Optoelectronics Manufacturing / End Use
Refined gallium is used mainly to make gallium arsenide and gallium nitride compounds for integrated circuits, LEDs and laser diodes.
Integrated circuits account for an estimated 74% of gallium consumption, with optoelectronic devices (LEDs, laser diodes) making up most of the remaining 25% — figures reflect US domestic consumption patterns, used here as the best available proxy for the global split. Concentration: High
Medium confidenceSource: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries (Gallium) — view (2024)
Supply Chain at a Glance
A Byproduct With Outsized Importance
Gallium is almost never mined on its own — it's recovered in small quantities from aluminium and zinc ore processing — yet it's essential to gallium arsenide and gallium nitride chips used in 5G equipment, power electronics and LEDs, giving a tiny-tonnage metal real strategic weight.
2023: When a 'Minor Metal' Made Global Headlines
China's 2023 export licensing controls on gallium turned an obscure commodity most people had never priced or even heard of into global news within days — a direct reminder of how much of the world's minor-metal refining capacity sits concentrated inside one country.
The Chip That's Replacing Silicon Chargers
Gallium's newest growth market isn't LEDs or 5G radios but gallium nitride (GaN) power electronics — GaN has a far wider energy bandgap than silicon, letting devices switch faster, run hotter and shrink in size without breaking down, which is exactly why GaN chargers and laptop adapters have become the fast-charging standard in just a few years.
Did You Know?
China's dominance in gallium isn't primarily about mining it — it's about being where most of the world's byproduct-recovery and refining capacity happens to be located.
Frequently Asked Questions
Country-level production data for Gallium is not yet available on this page.
The Gallium price in India today is ₹22,556.37 per kilogram as of October 16, 2026. See the live price and chart.
Metal Chain™ is an analytical framework developed by MetalsCost. Concentration figures and the current-bottleneck comparison are estimates derived from available public data and a documented methodology — they are not investment advice or a guaranteed forecast. See the methodology page for data sources and calculation details.
