Hafnium

Overview

Hafnium is a shiny, silvery, corrosion-resistant transition metal. Its atoms are almost the same size as those of zirconium, with which it typically occurs in minerals, and the two elements are so similar chemically that hafnium was not identified until 1923, in Copenhagen.¹

The property that matters most is how it behaves with neutrons. Hafnium absorbs thermal neutrons strongly, which is why it is used in nuclear control rods, while zirconium absorbs them weakly, which is why hafnium-free zirconium is used to clad nuclear fuel.² Separating the two for the nuclear industry is the source of nearly all hafnium supply.

Hafnium is on the US list of critical minerals and on the EU list of critical raw materials.³⁴

Where it comes from

Hafnium is not mined for its own sake. Zircon (zirconium silicate), mined mostly from heavy-mineral sands, is the primary source, and it contains zirconium and hafnium in a ratio of about 34 to 1.² The US government classes hafnium as a by-product of zirconium.³ Supply therefore depends on how much hafnium-free zirconium is produced, rather than on demand for hafnium itself.

The USGS does not publish world primary hafnium production or reserve figures, so no production chart is shown here.⁵ Zirconium and hafnium metals have been produced in China, France, India, Russia and the United States.² The European Commission's 2023 criticality assessment found that France accounted for 49% of global hafnium supply at the processing stage.⁶

In the United States, zirconium and hafnium metals are produced from zirconium chemical intermediates by one producer in Oregon and one in Utah.⁵ China and Germany were the leading global exporters of unwrought hafnium in 2025.⁵

World resources of hafnium are associated with those of zircon and baddeleyite, but no quantitative estimate of hafnium resources is available.⁵

What it is used for

The leading use of hafnium metal in the United States is in superalloys.⁵ It is used as an additive in nickel-base superalloys, including for aerospace components.²¹ The other principal uses are:

• Nuclear control rods, which exploit hafnium's high thermal neutron absorption.²
• Plasma-arc cutting, where hafnium is used in the nozzles of cutting torches.²
• High-temperature ceramics.²
• Microchips, where hafnium oxide is used as an electrical insulator.¹

Grades and forms

US trade statistics distinguish unwrought hafnium, including powder, from wrought products.⁵

Trade and policy

US imports of unwrought hafnium were an estimated 72 t in 2025, up from 64 t in 2024, and imports of wrought hafnium were an estimated 12 t. In 2021–24, unwrought hafnium came mainly from Germany (54%), China (21%), France (12%) and the United Kingdom (8%); wrought hafnium came mainly from Germany (68%), China (14%), France (9%) and Italy (7%).⁵

Hafnium is on the final 2025 US list of critical minerals.³ In the EU, it was on the 2023 list of critical raw materials, but not on the shorter list of strategic raw materials.⁴ The 2023 assessment noted that the EU is a net exporter of hafnium.⁶

Recycling and substitution

Hafnium metal recycling is minimal.⁵

Boron or cadmium-silver-indium alloys can replace hafnium in nuclear control rods, and zirconium can be used interchangeably with hafnium in certain superalloys.⁵

Sources

1. Hafnium: element information, properties and uses. Royal Society of Chemistry, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. 2020 Minerals Yearbook: Zirconium and Hafnium (advance release). U.S. Geological Survey, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

3. Final 2025 List of Critical Minerals (90 FR 50494). Federal Register, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. EU critical raw materials. European Commission, Joint Research Centre (RMIS), accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩²

5. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Zirconium and Hafnium. U.S. Geological Survey, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

6. Study on the Critical Raw Materials for the EU 2023 – Final Report. European Commission, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩²