Tellurium is unknown to many investors, but the metal is rapidly growing in importance due to its use in solar panels. Thin-film solar cell production is the primary end use for tellurium, and is expected to drive demand in the years to come.
That said, the tellurium market is also highly dependant on copper, as more than 90 percent of tellurium is extracted as a by-product of copper mining and processing. For that reason, only small amounts of tellurium are produced annually. In fact, in 2016, world tellurium production by country was estimated to be just 400 metric tons (MT), the same amount as the previous year.
With that in mind, here’s a look at tellurium production by country in 2016, as reported by the US Geological Survey. It is worth noting that some producers, like Belgium and the US, do not publish output figures and therefore are not included in this ranking.