Strontium

Overview

Strontium is a soft alkaline-earth metal that is used almost entirely in the form of compounds. Its salts give fireworks and flares their brilliant red color, and strontium carbonate is a key input for ferrite magnets.¹ Strontium aluminate is the active ingredient in many glow-in-the-dark products.¹

The EU lists strontium as a critical raw material, but not as a strategic one.² Strontium is not on the US Final 2025 List of Critical Minerals.³ Thanks to Spanish production, the EU is self-sufficient at the mining stage.⁴

Where it comes from

Strontium occurs mainly in two minerals, celestite (strontium sulfate) and strontianite (strontium carbonate).¹ Celestite is the commercial source. World production was an estimated 450,000 t (gross weight) in 2025, up from 400,000 t in 2024. Iran was the largest producer, followed by Spain and China.⁵

• Iran250,000 t · 55%
• Spain100,000 t · 22%
• China80,000 t · 18%
• Mexico20,000 t · 4%
• Argentina700 t · <1%

World total shown is the sum of USGS country estimates; USGS rounds it to 450,000 t. Source: Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Strontium

USGS revised Spain's 2024 production significantly based on a government report. Mexico's reported output was about 19,000 t in 2024.⁵ Country shares have shifted over time. In the European Commission's 2023 assessment, which used average data for earlier years, Iran supplied 37% of global extraction, Spain 34% and China 16%.⁴

Reported reserves are 12 million t in China and 2 million t in Iran. USGS describes world reserves as large and world resources as possibly exceeding 1 billion t.⁵

Celestite is converted to strontium carbonate, from which other compounds are made. Global carbonate supply was disrupted in 2025 by reduced output in China, a major explosion at a port in Iran and fire damage to a plant in Mexico.⁵ The metal itself is made by electrolysis of molten strontium chloride or by reducing strontium oxide with aluminum.¹

What it is used for

Use patterns differ sharply by region. In the United States, nearly all celestite is ground and added to drilling fluids for oil and gas wells without chemical processing. Imports of celestite jumped from 29 t of strontium content in 2024 to 8,100 t in 2025, reflecting this use.⁵

{{chart:end-uses}}

In the EU, the 2023 assessment allocated 40% of strontium use to magnets and 40% to pyrotechnics, with glass, master alloys, pigments and fillers, and zinc production at 5% each.⁴ Ceramic ferrite magnets are made by sintering strontium carbonate with iron oxide. Strontium nitrate supplies the red color in fireworks and signal flares.⁵

Smaller uses include zinc refining, toothpaste for sensitive teeth and, for the radioactive isotope strontium-90, power sources for remote weather stations and spacecraft.¹ Research uses include optical atomic clocks, medical applications, strontium-based power systems and photoluminescence.⁵ Apparent US consumption of strontium compounds rose 16% in 2025.⁵

Grades and forms

Strontium is traded mainly as celestite and as chemical compounds. USGS converts trade data to strontium content using a fixed factor for each compound, shown below.⁵

Trade and policy

No strontium minerals have been mined in the United States since 1959, and large-scale US production of strontium carbonate ended in 2006. The country therefore relies entirely on imports. In 2021–24 nearly all celestite came from Mexico, while strontium compounds came mainly from Germany (51%) and Mexico (41%).⁵

In 2024 the US Defense Production Act Investments program announced funding to set up domestic production of 22 critical chemicals, including strontium nitrate, strontium oxalate and strontium peroxide. In September 2025 an Australia-based company acquired a strontium deposit in California and planned exploration drilling.⁵

In the EU, Spain supplied 99% of EU sourcing in the 2023 assessment, and EU import reliance was put at 0%.⁴

Recycling and substitution

Strontium is not recycled in the United States.⁵ The EU's 2023 assessment put its end-of-life recycling input rate at 0%.⁴

Barium can replace strontium in ceramic ferrite magnets, but the resulting magnets have a lower maximum operating temperature. Substitutes in pyrotechnics struggle to match the brilliance and visibility of strontium. In drilling mud, barite is the preferred material, and celestite substitutes for only part of it.⁵

Sources

1. Strontium: element information, properties and uses. Royal Society of Chemistry, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

2. Regulation (EU) 2024/1252 (Critical Raw Materials Act). EUR-Lex, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩

3. Final 2025 List of Critical Minerals. Federal Register. ↩

4. Study on the Critical Raw Materials for the EU 2023 – Final Report. European Commission, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

5. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Strontium. U.S. Geological Survey, accessed 2026-10-03. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³