As a major mining country, China does not have absolute international discourse power in many mineral varieties. In particular, some strategic mineral resources related to national economic security are often constrained by the lack of international discourse power, falling into the awkward situation where "whatever we export becomes cheap, and whatever we import rises in price", causing huge economic losses to our country.
However, fluorite is a prominent exception. This strategic mineral resource, with a global annual output of less than 10 million tons, is one where China holds absolute international discourse power, directly influencing the trends of its international market.
China ranks first in the world in terms of fluorite resource reserves, output and consumption, with obvious industrial advantages. Fluorite is also one of the few mineral species in which China has a say globally." On December 30, 2025, at the 2025 Fluorite Industry Development Conference held in Xiamen, Wang Wenli, Executive Vice President and Secretary General of the China Non-Metallic Minerals Industry Association, stated that China's fluorite industry should have a higher standing and overall perspective, promote the coordinated development of upstream and downstream industries, accelerate the restructuring of the fluorite industry pattern, and maintain the healthy and sustainable development and international status of the fluorite industry.
Fluorite, as one of the non-renewable and scarce resources, is an important strategic mineral resource in China and also an advantageous mineral resource of our country.
It is understood that fluorite resources are unevenly distributed around the world and show a relatively concentrated pattern. According to data from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), as of the end of 2024, global fluorite reserves stood at 320 million tons, mainly concentrated in China, Mexico, South Africa, Mongolia and other countries. China ranks first in fluorite reserves; Mexico has 68 million tons of reserves, accounting for 21%, ranking second; South Africa has 41 million tons, accounting for 13%, ranking third; Mongolia has 34 million tons, accounting for 11%, ranking fourth. The total reserves of these four countries account for 72% of the global total.
China is rich in fluorite resources, but they generally have the characteristics of 'three more and three less'," Wang Wenli introduced. First, there are many single fluorite deposits with small reserves, and few associated (co-occurring) deposits with large reserves. Second, there are more low-grade ores and fewer high-grade ores. The average grade of fluorite reserves in proven mines across the country is 27.45%, and the average grade of single fluorite deposits is only 54.56%. The reserves of high-grade ores with a grade higher than 65% account for 7.96% of the national total, and high-grade ores with a grade above 80% are even rarer, accounting for only 2.6% of the national total. These few high-grade ores are relatively concentrated in distribution, with about 70% mainly distributed in provinces and autonomous regions such as Zhejiang, Fujian, Inner Mongolia and Jiangxi. Third, there are more refractory ores and fewer easy-to-process ores. Among single fluorite ores, there are also some fluorite deposits. Due to the fine mineral crystallization, tight dissemination, it is difficult to separate the intergrowths of ore minerals and gangue minerals, and the content of gangue minerals such as calcium carbonate and barite is high, making mineral processing somewhat difficult.
It is understood that in recent years, China's fluorite output has increased year by year, rising from 3.8 million tons in 2017 to 5.9 million tons in 2024. The annual consumption of fluorite is about 6 million tons, ranking first in the world. The traditional applications of fluorite are mainly in fluorinated industry, steel and aluminum smelting, building materials and other fields, which are closely related to the development of strategic emerging industries. The downstream demand of China's fluorite industry is mainly concentrated in the fluorochemical industry (hydrofluoric acid and aluminum fluoride), with the combined demand accounting for 80%. Followed by metallurgy and building materials, accounting for 9% and 8% respectively.
China's fluorite resources hold a pivotal position globally, especially fluorine-containing materials processed with fluorite as the basic raw material, which are inseparable from the development of industries such as new energy, 5G materials, photovoltaics, wind power, and semiconductors. According to the '14th Five-Year' development plan for China's fluorochemical industry, currently, in various fluorochemical products in China, the fluorite production capacity accounts for 69% of the global production capacity, hydrogen fluoride production capacity accounts for 66% of the global production capacity, fluorine-containing refrigerants account for 70% of the global production capacity, and the total production capacity of the four major fluoropolymers accounts for approximately 60% of the global production capacity. China has become a major producer and consumer of fluorochemical products in the world," analyzed a senior industry expert.
In particular, in recent years, with the advent of a new round of technological revolution, the strategic value of fluorite has become increasingly prominent and has attracted great attention from various countries. It is understood that hydrofluoric acid, as the starting point of fluorine chemical industry, is mainly used to synthesize various fluorocarbons and fluorine-containing fine chemicals, as well as to extract high-purity electronic-grade hydrofluoric acid. Fluoropolymer materials are used in military industry, national defense and high-end emerging industries, while fluorine electronic chemicals are important raw materials for the electronics industry and chip manufacturing. Therefore, countries and regions such as Europe, the United States, and Japan listed fluorite in the "critical minerals" list as early as the mid-20th century. In China's "National Mineral Resources Plan (2016-2020)", fluorite was also clearly included in the "Strategic Mineral Catalog", establishing its strategic position related to national resource security. At the same time, in the "Twelfth Five-Year Development Plan for China's Fluorine Chemical Industry", fluorite was listed as a "world-class scarce resource similar to rare earths".
As the saying goes, a person without long-term considerations is bound to have immediate worries. Although China is a major fluorite industry country with the world's first place in fluorite reserves, output and consumption, and has absolute right to speak and control in the international arena, the hidden worries in development cannot be ignored, especially the serious insufficient capacity of fluorite resources security, and the situation is very severe. "China has long been the world's largest producer and exporter of fluorite, but the proportion of reserves is seriously mismatched with the proportion of output, leading to a sharp decline in the reserve-production ratio, which has seriously affected the domestic capacity of fluorite resources security," said relevant people in the industry.
The severe imbalance between reserves and production is the core challenge for China's fluorite resources!" Luo Xianping, President of East China University of Technology, said bluntly. Years of high-intensity mining of fluorite resources have led to a continuous decline in the reserve-production ratio, and the pressure on domestic fluorite resource security has increased sharply. At present, China's fluorite resource reserve-production ratio is only 11.75 years, far lower than the global average of 31.82 years, while that of Mexico and South Africa is as high as 68 years and 100 years respectively. Moreover, the newly added fluorite mining areas are remote, of poor quality and difficult to develop, so the situation of fluorite resource shortage will continue for a long time in the future.
Lepidolite, as a single type of fluorite, is facing accelerating resource depletion, rising safety and environmental pressures, increasing mining costs, and tighter regulatory policies, which will lead to continuous increases in mining costs and a gradual reduction in its share in the subsequent industry. Carrying out comprehensive utilization of fluorine resources in phosphogypsum by-produced from phosphate mines and co-associated mineral resources will become the main path to alleviate the tight supply of domestic fluorite resources in the future," analyzed Liao Xinhua.
And a set of survey data provided by the Fluorite Industry Development Working Committee of the China Mining Association is even more pressing. In their "Recommendations on Ensuring the Security of Fluorite Resources and Promoting High-Quality Development of the Industry" submitted to relevant departments, it is pointed out that China's resources of single-type fluorite mines are tight, with a reserve-production ratio of only 7 years. The newly added resource volume is difficult to be converted into reserves, and due to conditional restrictions, it is hard to form effective production capacity in the short term.
At the same time, the overall comprehensive utilization rate of fluorite resources in China is relatively low, and the shortcomings of "small-scale, scattered and disorderly" are still obvious. Relevant data show that the comprehensive utilization rate of mining and beneficiation in China's single-type fluorite mines is only 51.43%, which remains low. In particular, the large number of small mines exposes many problems, such as backward mining and beneficiation methods and technical equipment, low "three rates", serious waste of fluorite resources, prominent safety production issues, and lack of overall planning.
China's fluorite mines are mainly small-scale. By the end of 2023, there were 688 single fluorite mines nationwide. As of the end of 2024, there were only more than ten large-scale fluorite mining and beneficiation enterprises with significant influence in the industry, which are concentrated in regions rich in fluorite resources such as Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Hunan, Fujian, Inner Mongolia, and Henan," Wang Wenli further gave examples, saying that at present, fluorite mines with an annual mining volume of more than 100,000 tons account for about 3%, those with more than 50,000 tons account for about 10%, those with 30,000-50,000 tons account for about 50%, and those with 10,000-30,000 tons account for about 30%-40%.
Domestic demand for fluorite has been rising year by year, while the resource guarantee capacity has been declining, which has directly led to an annual increase in China's fluorite imports.
Relevant data shows that since 2012, China's fluorite exports have remained at a low level, around 400,000 tons per year. From 2018 to 2021, China has been a net importer of fluorite. Only in 2022, China's overall fluorite imports dropped sharply, with exports reaching 477,000 tons, a record high, and exports exceeding imports. In the subsequent years of 2023 to 2025, China's overall fluorite imports have increased year by year, among which the imports of fluorite with calcium fluoride content ≤ 97% by weight are expected to reach the highest in nearly 6 years in 2025.
From January to November 2025, China's imports of fluorite with a calcium fluoride content of ≤97% by weight were approximately 1.622 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 39.9%; the import value was 244.8743 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 38.07%. During the same period, China's imports of fluorite with a calcium fluoride content of >97% by weight were 78,600 tons, a year-on-year increase of 146.39%; the import value was 25.4214 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 118.26%," analyzed Wang Wenli. "During the same period, China's exports of fluorite with a calcium fluoride content of ≤97% by weight were 166,800 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 5.92%; the export value was 70.9158 million US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 6.02%. China's exports of fluorite with a calcium fluoride content of >97% by weight were 93,500 tons, a year-on-year increase of 100.64%; the export value was 44.188 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 95.06%.
It is not difficult to judge from the above data that China's import volume of fluorite is much higher than its export volume. This also, to a certain extent, confirms issues such as the shortage of domestic fluorite resource supply and insufficient security capacity in China.
In recent years, due to restrictions on China's supply side and the higher-than-expected demand for new energy, the price of acid-grade fluorite has fluctuated at historically high levels. The market is in a state of structural tight balance, and any production disruptions in major producing countries or concentrated purchases by demanders will cause significant price fluctuations.
In recent years, with the explosive growth of new energy sources (such as new energy vehicles, photovoltaics, and wind power), the demand for fluorite in this field, including lithium hexafluorophosphate for batteries, fluorine-based new materials, and photovoltaic-grade and electronic-grade hydrofluoric acid, has been growing rapidly, which will further drive China's demand for fluorite resources. In 2023, China's consumption of fluorite concentrate reached approximately 1 million tons. It is estimated that by 2025, the global consumption of fluorite concentrate in the new energy sector will reach 1.5 million tons, and by 2030, it will reach 5 million tons, with a compound annual growth rate of over 25%.
With the rapid development of new energy and new materials sectors, the proportion of fluorite resources used in these emerging fields is gradually increasing. In the future, the demand for fluorite in the new energy sector will continue to grow, the consumption structure of fluorite will undergo fundamental changes, and new energy will become the main consumption field of fluorite. Therefore, the importance of fluorite resources will certainly attract great attention from developed countries," analyzed relevant industry insiders.
According to predictions from relevant departments, the global fluorite market will enter a new phase of a "super cycle" from 2026 to 2030, with its driving force shifting from traditional industries to global energy transformation and technological progress. A tight balance between supply and demand will become the norm. Fluorite and its downstream fluorochemical industry chain have become a strategic competition field at the national level, which is related to the security of core industries such as new energy, semiconductors, and national defense.
Fluorite has transformed from a bulk commodity raw material into a key strategic resource that determines future industrial competitiveness. Its market from 2026 to 2030 will be a highly promising stage full of challenges, opportunities and strategic games," industry insiders analyzed.
In the new round of strategic action for breakthroughs in mineral prospecting, we should adhere to a two-pronged approach: focusing on exploration to expand new prospects and tap potential, and integrating blocks to revitalize resources. We need to designate key exploration areas, apply new technological means, and expect to increase resource reserves; promote the revitalization of inefficient and stagnant mining rights, and optimize resource allocation," Luo Xianping suggested. He also proposed establishing a strategic reserve system for fluorite resources to ensure the security of national strategic resources and support the sustainable development of the industry. Relying on development and utilization areas and key mining areas, we should establish production capacity reserves and origin reserves for the development of the fluorine chemical industry.
At the same time, we must adhere to the principle of "two markets and two resources", increase financial support for overseas investment and exploration, encourage qualified and capable Chinese-funded enterprises to actively participate in the layout of overseas resources and deeply engage in global resource allocation. We should acquire mining rights, build mines in countries rich in fluorite resources, establish overseas fluorite reserve bases, increase overseas fluorite resources, effectively make up for the shortage of domestic fluorite resources, and achieve a virtuous cycle in the development and utilization of foreign resources.
While expanding fluorite "mineral sources" both at home and abroad, efforts should also be made to further improve the level of economical, intensive and comprehensive utilization of fluorite resources by increasing investment in scientific and technological innovation, enhancing technological innovation capabilities, and promoting advanced production technologies and processes for effective resource utilization and environmental protection. At the same time, we should strengthen research and development of technologies for the exploitation and utilization of low-grade fluorite ores and associated fluorite resources, encourage the development model of industrial chains supported by comprehensive resource utilization, introduce preferential policies, effectively improve the development and utilization rate of associated fluorite resources, and fundamentally solve the problem of fluorite resource security.
While stepping up technological research on the enrichment and recovery of low-grade fluorite ores to continuously improve the comprehensive utilization level of low-grade fluorite ores, it is also becoming a development trend and mainstream to make up for the shortage of single fluorite ore resources by comprehensively utilizing associated ores and fluorine resources recovered from the production processes of other resources.
It is understood that in recent years, through technological research and development in China, the proportion of comprehensive utilization of fluorine resources has increased year by year, reaching about 40% in 2025, which is almost on a par with the 60.6% proportion of single-type fluorite. Among them, the output of hydrogen fluoride and aluminum fluoride from the recovery and utilization of fluorine resources in phosphate rocks in China has been increasing year by year, reaching 180,000 tons and 92,000 tons respectively in 2025. In terms of comprehensive utilization of associated (accompanying) mineral resources, for the comprehensive utilization project of fluorite resources in Bayan Obo, the capacity of processing fluorite concentrate from tailings comprehensive utilization reached 800,000 tons by 2025, and 300,000 tons of hydrogen fluoride has been completed and put into production. The annual recovery of associated fluorite resources in Chenzhou, Hunan Province reaches 600,000 tons. In addition, associated fluorite resources in Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and other places are also being recycled and utilized.
With China's development and technological research on associated refractory fluorite resources, as well as the research, development and practice of application technologies and processes for low-grade fluorite powder, the proportion of fluorine element recycling has gradually increased (now reaching one-third). In the future, China's fluorite resource supply will present a diversified pattern including single fluorite minerals, associated minerals, fluorine element recycling and foreign fluorite resources," said Wang Wenli.
These newly built fluorite mines are large in scale and are all heavyweight projects. After the completion and operation of Jiangxi Yudu County Huashuo Mining Co., Ltd., it will produce 200,000 tons of fluorite concentrate annually. The completion and operation of these newly added fluorite mines will further enhance the guarantee capacity of domestic fluorite resources," said Liao Xinhua.
To further enhance the safe supply capacity of domestic fluorite resources, it is also necessary to strengthen the top-level design and policy support for domestic fluorite resources, promote the integration and restructuring of domestic fluorite resources, and cultivate a number of large backbone fluorite groups with international influence.
In terms of national policies, strict requirements are imposed on the fluorite industry. Fluorite is positioned as a 'strategic mineral resource', with significant scarcity and strategic significance. The policy direction of protective development has become increasingly clear, and the requirements for enterprise scale, technology, and environmental protection are constantly increasing." Relevant personages suggest that we should adhere to the principle of "supporting the superior and strong, and promoting mergers and reorganizations", raise the access threshold, eliminate backward production capacity, concentrate fluorite resources in advantageous enterprises, improve production scale and competitiveness, and optimize the strategic direction for the development of China's fluorite resources and the coordinated development of the industrial chain. At the same time, we should strengthen policy support, strict industry supervision, enhance ecological protection, and establish a national-level fluorite resource security guarantee mechanism to achieve the sustainable and high-quality development of the fluorite industry.
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