Minerals: Imports
(asked on 8th June 2026) - View Source
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what volume of each mineral listed on the UK Critical Minerals List was imported in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025, broken down by country of origin.
Answered by
Chris McDonald
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Please see table below, derived from HMRC’s Import data by preference bulk dataset, using trade codes as published in the technical annex of the UK’s Critical Minerals Strategy. Countries of origin have been grouped into EU and non-EU for legibility.
Volumes of each critical and growth mineral imported into the UK, tonnes, 2023-25, broken down by those sourced from EU and non-EU countries.
Mineral | Origin | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
Aluminium | EU | 492,570 | 468,461 | 468,440 |
non-EU | 387,774 | 420,020 | 426,726 | |
Antimony | EU | 878 | 851 | 576 |
non-EU | 367 | 309 | 162 | |
Beryllium | EU | 0 | 1 | 0 |
non-EU | 28 | 1 | 1 | |
Bismuth | EU | 19 | 44 | 28 |
non-EU | 257 | 143 | 110 | |
Borates | EU | 46 | 151 | 97 |
non-EU | 8,424 | 9,156 | 10,618 | |
Chromium | EU | 11,836 | 9,464 | 11,403 |
non-EU | 59,035 | 67,607 | 52,355 | |
Cobalt | EU | 1,725 | 1,681 | 1,420 |
non-EU | 3,937 | 8,400 | 9,653 | |
Copper | EU | 166,698 | 186,974 | 152,677 |
non-EU | 61,131 | 67,136 | 70,161 | |
Gallium | EU | 0 | 0 | 0 |
non-EU | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
Germanium | EU | 0 | 1 | 2 |
non-EU | 2 | 5 | 1 | |
Graphite | EU | 5,130 | 4,378 | 4,696 |
non-EU | 27,894 | 28,901 | 30,261 | |
Hafnium | EU | 7 | 5 | 16 |
non-EU | 11 | 16 | 39 | |
Helium | EU | 1,218 | 1,121 | 740 |
non-EU | 2,537 | 1,927 | 2,619 | |
Indium | EU | 2 | 1 | 0 |
non-EU | 6 | 2 | 7 | |
Iridium & Ruthenium | EU | 1 | 1 | 1 |
non-EU | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
Iron | EU | 2,308,785 | 2,461,616 | 1,977,632 |
non-EU | 6,673,773 | 3,083,542 | 2,799,234 | |
Lithium | EU | 86 | 94 | 94 |
non-EU | 3,326 | 3,175 | 2,629 | |
Magnesite | EU | 20,296 | 18,790 | 24,737 |
non-EU | 20,995 | 24,602 | 21,282 | |
Magnesium | EU | 37,614 | 37,639 | 33,385 |
non-EU | 29,196 | 27,195 | 36,932 | |
Manganese | EU | 2,536 | 4,709 | 4,333 |
non-EU | 45,494 | 39,504 | 38,948 | |
Nickel | EU | 29,236 | 34,844 | 22,551 |
non-EU | 81,725 | 106,772 | 89,104 | |
Niobium | EU | 158 | 88 | 17 |
non-EU | 796 | 634 | 443 | |
Phosphates | EU | 94,984 | 92,078 | 86,741 |
non-EU | 158,713 | 144,112 | 170,832 | |
Platinum | EU | 1,888 | 2,095 | 2,703 |
non-EU | 290 | 362 | 865 | |
Rare Earth Elements | EU | 344 | 421 | 1,115 |
non-EU | 1,396 | 1,504 | 1,289 | |
Rhenium | EU | 1 | 1 | 4 |
non-EU | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Rhodium | EU | 2 | 2 | 2 |
non-EU | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
Silicon | EU | 49,192 | 68,729 | 45,208 |
non-EU | 71,052 | 98,374 | 102,744 | |
Sodium | EU | 4,875 | 5,903 | 4,303 |
non-EU | 8,695 | 6,798 | 7,141 | |
Tantalum | EU | 57 | 26 | 27 |
non-EU | 152 | 126 | 197 | |
Tellurium | EU | 3 | 5 | 2 |
non-EU | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Tin | EU | 625 | 693 | 757 |
non-EU | 4,281 | 4,935 | 5,235 | |
Titanium | EU | 8,207 | 6,502 | 4,314 |
non-EU | 193,758 | 247,719 | 151,547 | |
Tungsten | EU | 416 | 471 | 334 |
non-EU | 682 | 638 | 920 | |
Uranium | EU | 11 | 13 | 1,846 |
non-EU | 100 | 7 | 32 | |
Vanadium | EU | 296 | 257 | 253 |
non-EU | 173 | 140 | 244 | |
Zinc | EU | 4,846 | 7,069 | 7,115 |
non-EU | 15,140 | 16,372 | 15,894 |