Read each row left to right — from where a material comes out of the ground to who ends up selling and buying it. Open any row for its full profile. ▸ how to read
The chain runs reserves → mined → refined → top exporter → top importer: what’s left in the ground (USGS, economically recoverable), who digs it up, who processes it, who sells the most, and who buys the most — the last being the most exposed. Trade figures are world bilateral trade from CEPII BACI. Every country keeps its own colour, so a colour that recurs across a row is one of that supply chain’s main players.
Three marks worth knowing:
- ⚠ processing chokepoint — the top exporter isn’t the top miner, so a refiner or trader stands in between.
- ⛓ shared trade code — gallium, germanium and hafnium report under one code and can’t be separated.
- — no distinct refining stage, or no data.
Sources: USGS · IEA · UN Comtrade / CEPII BACI (reconciled). Sort by any column; open a row for the full profile.