Niobium producers remain concentrated in a handful of companies. Just three primary mines, two in Brazil and one in Canada, account for roughly 98% of the 112,000 tonnes of niobium mined globally in 2025, according to the US Geological Survey. The remainder of this list is filled by co-product processors and refiners that extract niobium alongside tantalum, tin or lithium.
How We Ranked the Top 10 Niobium Producers
This ranking of niobium producers is based on 2025 mine and refined production volumes reported by companies and cross-checked against USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries country-level data, supplemented by processing capacity and market position for co-product refiners where independent tonnage is not disclosed. Figures for privately held producers are estimated where a precise figure has not been published; these are flagged in the table below.
| Rank | Company | Country | Key Asset | 2025 Niobium Output |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CBMM | Brazil | Araxá mine | ~100,000 t (estimated) |
| 2 | CMOC Group | China / Brazil | Boa Vista (NML) mine | 10,348 t (confirmed) |
| 3 | Magris Performance Materials | Canada | Niobec mine | ~10% of world market (company estimate) |
| 4 | AMG | Netherlands / Brazil | Mibra mine | Co-product, undisclosed |
| 5 | Mineração Taboca (Minsur) | Brazil / Peru | Pitinga mine | Co-product, undisclosed |
| 6 | Changsha South Tantalum Niobium | China | Yichun processing hub | Refined volumes undisclosed |
| 7 | Ningxia Orient Tantalum (OTIC) | China | High-purity processing | Refined volumes undisclosed |
| 8 | H.C. Starck | Germany / United States | Chemical and powder processing | Processor, no mine output |
| 9 | Global Advanced Metals | Australia / United States | Tantalum-niobium co-product streams | Co-product, undisclosed |
| 10 | SMB / DRC coltan concessions | Democratic Republic of Congo | North Kivu artisanal coltan | Part of DRC’s ~970 t national total |
1. CBMM (Brazil)
CBMM (Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração) is the largest of the niobium producers and the dominant supplier to the global market from its Araxá deposit in Minas Gerais. The company’s CEO told Brazilian press in October 2025 that production was on track to reach approximately 100,000 tonnes for the year, up from 95,000 tonnes in 2024, against a stated annual capacity of 150,000 tonnes. CBMM is investing heavily in downstream products beyond ferroniobium, including a dedicated niobium oxide line targeting 40,000 tonnes of capacity by 2030 and a battery anode facility opened at Araxá in November 2024, supplying fast-charging lithium-ion anode material to partners including Echion Technologies.
2. CMOC Group (China / Brazil)
CMOC Group holds its niobium business through a wholly owned Brazilian subsidiary, NML, which operates the Boa Vista mine in Goiás. CMOC acquired the asset from Anglo American in 2016, a transaction worth noting given that some competitor listicles still wrongly credit Anglo American as a current niobium producer. CMOC’s 2025 annual results confirmed niobium production of 10,348 tonnes, a record for the operation and its fourth consecutive year of output above 10,000 tonnes, with 2026 guidance set at 10,000 to 11,000 tonnes.
3. Magris Performance Materials (Canada)
Magris Performance Materials owns Niobec, the only primary niobium mine outside Brazil and the world’s sole underground niobium operation, at Saint-Honoré in Quebec’s Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region. Niobec has produced continuously since 1976 and Magris states the mine supplies around 10% of the global niobium market. USGS data puts Canada’s 2025 mine production at 6,000 tonnes, roughly 5% of the 112,000-tonne world total, a gap likely reflecting different measurement bases between refined ferroniobium sales and mined niobium content. Magris also holds a 27.5% interest in the adjacent Crevier niobium-tantalum-rare earth project through Niobec, alongside NioBay Metals.
4. AMG (Netherlands / Brazil)
Advanced Metallurgical Group processes niobium as a co-product of its Mibra mine in Brazil, where the primary output is tantalum and lithium. AMG converts the niobium stream into ferroniobium and niobium aluminium master alloys used in aerospace superalloys, giving it a specialist processing role rather than a primary-mining one among the world’s niobium producers.
5. Mineração Taboca (Minsur)
Taboca, a subsidiary of Peru’s Minsur, operates the Pitinga mine in Amazonas state, Brazil. Pitinga is run primarily as a tin operation, but its columbite-tantalite mineralisation allows Taboca to produce a ferro-niobium-tantalum alloy as a secondary product, adding a further Brazilian source to the supply base beyond CBMM and CMOC.
6. Changsha South Tantalum Niobium Co.
Changsha South Tantalum Niobium is one of China’s established refractory metals processors, refining domestic lithium-tantalum-niobium ore concentrates, including material from Jiangxi’s Yichun district, alongside imported feedstock. The company functions as an integrated processing hub rather than a mine operator, supplying China’s downstream steel and alloy industries.
7. Ningxia Orient Tantalum Industry (OTIC)
OTIC specialises in high-purity downstream niobium and tantalum products, converting raw concentrates into niobium ingots, powders and superconducting-grade sheet used in aerospace components and scientific research equipment. It is one of the more technically advanced processors among China’s niobium producers, competing on product purity rather than raw tonnage.
8. H.C. Starck High Performance Metal Solutions
H.C. Starck, headquartered in Germany with US operations, does not mine niobium but is one of the world’s principal processors of niobium chemical compounds and metal powders. It converts technical-grade concentrates into high-purity niobium oxides used in optical glass and electronic ceramic capacitors, positioning it further down the value chain than the mine operators on this list.
9. Global Advanced Metals (GAM)
GAM is better known as a tantalum producer, drawing on Australian rights agreements including assets near Greenbushes and Wodgina, but it co-produces niobium concentrates alongside its tantalum output. The company operates secondary processing facilities in the United States and Japan, giving it a Western-aligned position in a supply chain otherwise dominated by Brazil and China.
10. SMB and DRC Coltan Concessions
Société Minière de Bisunzu operates concessions in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, where coltan (columbite-tantalite) is produced partly through artisanal mining before export for separation into distinct niobium and tantalum streams. USGS estimates the DRC’s 2025 niobium production at 970 tonnes, under 1% of world supply. Buyers sourcing from this region face established conflict-mineral traceability requirements under OECD due diligence guidance and downstream smelter audit programmes.
The Outlook for Niobium Producers in 2026
Concentration among niobium producers is easing only slowly. CBMM’s capacity expansion and CMOC’s steady output growth mean Brazil is likely to hold close to its current 90%-plus share of world supply through the rest of the decade, even as battery-anode demand adds a new growth vector alongside the steel and superalloy markets that have historically driven consumption. The clearest source of diversification remains NioCorp’s Elk Creek project in Nebraska, which secured a $10 million US Department of War award in August 2025 to support domestic scandium alloy supply chain development, with niobium and titanium output expected to follow once the site becomes operational as the only primary niobium mine and processing facility in the United States. For now, niobium pricing and supply security both trace back to the same three mines that have anchored the market for decades.
For background on the metal’s properties and end-use markets, see What Is Niobium? Sources: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, Tantalum-Niobium International Study Center.
Who is the #1 niobium producer and why?
CBMM of Brazil is the top niobium producer, supplying close to 90% of world output from its Araxá mine, backed by an annual production capacity of 150,000 tonnes and decades of vertical integration from mining through to advanced niobium chemicals.
What criteria determines the ranking?
The list is ranked by 2025 mine and refined niobium output where companies disclose it, cross-checked against USGS country-level production data, with co-product refiners ranked by processing scale and market position where independent tonnage is not published.
Does Anglo American still produce niobium?
No. Anglo American sold its Brazilian niobium and phosphate business to CMOC Group in 2016. Some listicles still list Anglo American as a current producer; this is outdated.
Which company operates the only niobium mine outside Brazil?
Magris Performance Materials operates Niobec in Saint-Honoré, Quebec, the only primary niobium mine outside Brazil and the world’s sole underground niobium operation.
What could change the niobium producer rankings in future?
NioCorp’s Elk Creek project in Nebraska is the most advanced effort to establish a US niobium source, having secured federal funding in 2025, while CBMM’s continued capacity expansion and battery-anode investments are likely to reinforce Brazil’s dominance in the near term rather than dilute it.
